Thierry Neuvilleโs FIA World Rally Championship title hopes were bolstered on Saturday as the Hyundai ace (above) emerged from the plot twists of another punishing day at Acropolis Rally Greece with a commanding overall lead.
The Belgian, who started the penultimate leg third, climbed to the top as his i20 N Rally1-driving factory teammates, Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo, suffered misfortunes in what has proven to be easily the season’s most brutal rally so far.
Tanak had led by 21.8s after Fridayโs grueling opening leg, but Greeceโs unforgiving, rock-strewn gravel stages took their toll early on Saturday. Forced to stop twice within six miles to change wheels, the Estonianโs challenge fell apart as he dropped four minutes and plummeted down the leaderboard to fourth.
Sordo, making his first top-level appearance since Juneโs Rally Italy Sardinia, briefly inherited the lead. But, like so many before him, the Spaniard was undone by the unforgiving road conditions. A collision with a rock caused a rear-tire blowout, which cost around 50s and negated his advantage in an instant.
But Neuville, whose Friday had been somewhat marred by a misfiring engine, managed to survive the rock-related carnage. Carefully pacing himself and conserving his Pirelli tires, he steered his Hyundai clear of any potential disasters to end the day with a lead of 53.7s over Sordo.ย
Sebastien Ogier, Neuvilleโs closest championship challenger despite starting the 2024 season on a part-time schedule only, clung to third overall, the eight-time WRC champ ending Saturday 1m20.9s adrift of the lead in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Toyotaโs Sebastien Ogier is holding on to third, but looks set to lose ground to Thierry Neuville in the WRC title battle.
With 18 points provisionally secured (theyโll be confirmed only if Neuville finishes Sundayโs closing leg), the rally leader and his co-driver, Martijn Wydaeghe, are on course to extend their WRC points lead, which stood at 27 points over Ogier at the start of the rally.
“There’s another day left, so at the moment there is no conclusion yet,” insisted Neuville, whoโs finished WRC title runner-up five times, but is yet to make the final step. “We need to see where we end up tomorrow — that’s the only thing that counts.
“So far weโve had a very good management of our rally and, despite some issues on Friday, nothing major happened. From the beginning, our approach was to be careful with the car when it was needed and we somehow got through. I tried to adapt my driving style a bit in the ruts and not put the car too sideways with the risk of hitting stones — that’s the only thing you can do.
“It’s a lottery out there and we don’t know what will happen. Tomorrow we have to see what the weather will be like and how hard we need to drive for the extra points. There are a lot of things we still have to manage.โ
Sordoโs tire blowout obliterated the rear bodywork on his i20 N, and with no mid-day service, he and co-driver Candido Carrera were forced to patch up the car as best they could. The duo even resorted to wearing ski goggles to keep the dust out as they fought to retain second place.
Dani Sordo inspects the damage to his Hyundai i20 N Rally1. The Spaniard kept going and holds second overall at the overnight halt. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Ogier, who won three of the dayโs six stages, could only reflect on what might have been. After leading early on Friday, his rally was derailed by a turbocharger failure that cost him more than two minutes. His Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans has fared far worse at this 10th round of the season; stricken by similar turbo issues on day one, the Welshmanโs title hopes took a devastating blow when he rolled his car on Saturdayโs penultimate stage and was forced to retire.
Tanak trailed Ogier by almost two minutes in fourth overall, while M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 youngster Gregoire Munster, whoโd been hunting down a top-five spot in Fridayโs opening leg, crashed out on Saturdayโs third stage.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Finlandโs Sami Pajari surged ahead of overnight leader Robert Virves, ending Saturday with a relatively comfortable 27.7s class lead.
Estonian Virves had held a slim 1.5s advantage entering the penultimate leg and, after 30 miles of competitive action in the morning loop, the gap had only increased to 3.9s.
However, it was Pajari’s commanding run through the dayโs fourth stage, Aghii Theodori, that proved pivotal. On a softer road surface compared to the earlier stages, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver outpaced Virves by 16.4s, propelling himself into the WRC2 lead.
A puncture on the repeat pass through Aghii Theodori further prevented any hopes of a comeback from Virves and, by the day’s close, the Skoda Fabia RS driver found himself trailing Pajari by what could prove an insurmountable margin.
Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver Sami Pajari pulled out the stops in Saturday afternoonโs opening stage to grab the WRC2 lead. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
A rough, tough Acropolis Rally Greece concludes on Sunday, when crews face three more special stages totaling 33.59 competitive miles. A rally-closing second run through the 11.36-mile Eleftherohori stage will be the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.
WRC Rally Acropolis Greece, positions after Leg Two, SS12
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h01m05.3s
2 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +53.7s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m20.9s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m19.2s
5 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 โ WRC2 leader) +5m06.1s
6 Robert Virves/Aleks Lesk (Skoda Fabia RS โ WRC2) +5m33.8s
7 Yohan Rossel/Florian Barral (Citroen C3 โ WRC2) +6m00.3s
8 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS โ WRC2) +6m58.1s
9 Georg Linnamae/James Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 โ WRC2) +8m33.9s
10 Fabrizio Zaldivar/Marcelo der Ohannesian (Skoda Fabia RS โ WRC2) +9m23.2s
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