Neuville wins the Acropolis, Sordo on the podium (3rd)

Belgian pilot Thierry Neuville in greece this sunday World Rally Championship (WRC) Round 10 Acropolis Rallyahead of two other Hyundai drivers, the Estonian Ott Tanak and spanish tick deafat the end of a weekend marked by Toyota’s collective failure.

Neuville, who has yet to win a race this season, took his 16th WRC victory. He managed the final morning of the race perfectly, taking a 15-second lead over Tänak at the end of the 16th and final 16km special stage, earning him bonus points.

Frenchman Pierre-Louis Roubaix (Ford), who had a very successful rally despite Saturday’s problems (puncture etc.), saw Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota) on the road leading to the first rally. 4th on Sunday morning after retiring after suffering a breakdown. stage of the day.

Championship leader Finn Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota) took his worst hit of the weekend as he crashed in the points on Saturday and the Hyundai drivers led by Tänak and Neuville closed the gap on him.

With three races to go, Rovanpera leads the world championship with 207 points, followed by Tänak (154 points) and Neuville (131 points). Sordo is 49 and he is eighth.

Britain’s Elfyn Evans withdraws after a turbo issue in his Toyota Yaris ahead of Sunday’s first special as Hyundai team achieves first-ever triplet in World Rally Championship I lost my chance. let me run away

Current championship leader and previous Acropolis winner Rovanpera (Toyota) was also among the drivers affected on Saturday morning, having collided exiting the day’s third stage. Afterwards, the rear of the car was severely damaged. wood.

The Finn already had his first chance at becoming the youngest world champion at the age of 21 last month at the rally in Belgium, but a rollover on the first day left him with no choice.

On the gravel track north of Athens Rovanpera, Ott Tänak had a 72-point lead at the start of this 10th race and needed to beat the Estonian by at least 18 points, but he wouldn’t leave Greece without scoring was (12th). Next up, he will have to wait for the New Zealand Rally, which starts on September 29th, to try out a new sentence for the title.

“I’ve had good weekends and bad weekends, but this was the worst ever,” Rovanpera said.

Following New Zealand, the final two tests will be in Spain (RACC Catalunya) in October and Japan in November.

Final classification (after 16 specials):

1. Thierry Neuville-Martin Wideghe (BEL/Hyundai) 3h 34:52.0

2. Ott Tanak-Martin Jarveoja (EST/Hyundai) 15.

3. Dani Sordo Candido Carrera (ESP/Hyundai) 1:49.7

4. Pierre-Louis Loubet-Vincent Lande (FRA/M-Sport Ford) 3:42.2

5. Craig Breen-Paul Nagle (IRL/M-Sport Ford) 4:09.0

…

17. Kalle Rovanperä-Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) 17:00.3

Power Stage Classification (ES16):

1. Tanak 5pts

2. Rovanpera 4 pts

3. Breen 3pts

4. Greensmith 2pts

5. Lappi 1pt

Drop out:

Sebastien Loeb-Isabelle Garmisch (FRA/M-Sport Ford), electrical trouble (SS8)

Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota), Turbo (SS14)