WRC - Neuville tops Hyundai 1-2-3 and extends championship lead with Acropolis triumph

WRC – Neuville tops Hyundai 1-2-3 and extends championship lead with Acropolis triumph

2024 EKO Acropolis Rally Greece – Sunday report

Thierry Neuville moved a step nearer to claiming his first FIA World Rally Championship title after successful a gruelling 2024 version of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece.

The Belgian driver conquered the carnage-filled three-day fixture in Lamia to head-up a Hyundai Motorsport 1-2-3 end forward of i20 N colleagues Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak, with Neuville’s foremost title rival Sébastien Ogier struggling a dramatic roll on the Wolf Energy Stage whereas heading in the right direction to complete second general.

Ogier was in a position to push his Toyota GR Yaris again onto its wheels and end the rally, crucially securing the 15 factors scored on Saturday night time, however plummeted down the general rally standings after dropping greater than 20 minutes.

The Frenchman had initially led early within the rally, however slipped behind when his automotive was crippled by a turbocharger failure on Friday afternoon. Tänak and Dani Sordo additionally felt the wrath of the Acropolis, each struggling tyre injury on Saturday that dashed their very own victory hopes and catapulted Neuville into the lead.

Even Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe weren’t resistant to the rally’s brutality. A misfiring engine plagued their Hyundai i20 N on the opening morning, however the pair managed to regroup and utilized a wise technique, rigorously balancing threat and reward to keep away from additional calamities on the treacherous tracks.

The end result stretched Neuville’s lead within the drivers’ standings to 34 factors over Tänak as Ogier fell to 3rd, with 90 factors nonetheless obtainable from the remaining three rounds. Within the producers’ championship, Hyundai prolonged its benefit over Toyota to 35 factors.

With Ogier in hassle, Tänak collected 11 of a attainable 12 factors from Tremendous Sunday. The Estonian additionally claimed his fiftieth WRC podium and now heads Ogier by 4 factors within the drivers’ collection.

Elfyn Evans’ title aspirations took a serious hit when he rolled his Toyota late on Saturday, whereas M-Sport Ford duo Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster have been additionally compelled to rejoin beneath restart guidelines following their very own incidents.

Pajari prevails on countback for Acropolis WRC2 victory

The Acropolis proved so relentless that WRC2 drivers stuffed the remaining prime 10 spots. Sami Pajari, driving a Toyota Yaris GR Rally2, didn’t solely clinched victory within the WRC2 class within the narrowest of circumstances but additionally secured fourth place general in his Rally2-spec Toyota, alongside navigator Enni Mälkönen. Pajari narrowly edged out Robert Virves (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), with each ending degree on time, however Pajari’s faster SS1 time gave him the win on countback.

DG Competitors’s Citroën C3 driver Yohan Rossel, Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Škoda Fabia RS), Fau Zaldivar (Škoda Fabia RS), Josh McErlean (Škoda Fabia RS) and Roberto Daprà (Škoda Fabia Evo) rounded out the highest 10, benefiting from the misfortunes of the top-tier drivers.

Germany’s Armin Kremer, navigated by daughter Ella, celebrated successful the WRC Masters Cup, his success sufficient to safe the collection title after claiming 5 victories from 5 begins in a Škoda Fabia RS.