WRC Acropolis Rally: Ott Tanak heads Hyundai 1-2 as…

Ott Tanak leads Acropolis Rally Greece after an attritional Friday held in soaring temperatures that tested World Rally Championship crews to the limit.

Tanak’s consistent speed and ability to avoid serious delays helped the Estonian complete the day’s six rough gravel stages with a 3.0s lead over Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux, with Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier in third 16.9s back.

Friday proved to be one of the toughest of the season as crews battled searing heat as temperatures rose towards 70C inside the cars. Not only did the crews face energy sapping conditions, the rough stages inflicted punctures and tyre damage on the majority of the Rally1 field.

Tanak ended the day without a fastest stage time but was in the victory fight from the start. After reaching the midday remote service zone 6.1s behind Ogier, the 2019 world champion snatched the lead away from the eight-time world champion on stage six.

Tanak’s day was not without issue having suffered a tyre coming off the rim in the second pass through the now rutted and bedrock-ladened Aghii Theodori test. The Hyundai driver also fought with the balance of his i20, but was one of the fortunate few to avoid serious trouble.

Fourmaux was the only Rally1 driver to avoid a puncture as the Frenchman made the most of his starting position and benefited from a calculated approach to the car-breaking stages. Fourmaux posted three fastest stage times as he climbed from third at the remote service to second when his triumph on stage six demoted Ogier to third.

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 (Photo by: Toyota Racing)

Ogier was the early pacesetter having defied his road position to win stage two. The Toyota driver lost the lead to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville before reclaiming the advantage on stage four despite the pair suffering punctures. Neuville’s proved more costly, losing 39.5s after electing not to stop and change a wheel, while Ogier’s occurred 200 metres from the stage end.

Ogier’s lead was eaten into by Tanak across the afternoon loop that featured fresh stages that exacerbated the road cleaning effect.

“I did the maximum and the gap is much smaller than it should be,” said Ogier. “We must be pleased with the day. I think we did the best today. I have nothing to lose [tomorrow].”

Although happy to be leading, Tanak offered a fiery repost when he was made aware of Ogier’s 'nothing to lose comment'.

“We had a clean day so I’m happy with that. It is a very stupid announcement from him [Sebastien], there is plenty of job to do to support the team so that is not the way to work,” said Tanak.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans faced the worst of the road conditions as the Welshman found the task of avoiding trouble, while setting a strong pace, a difficult task. Evans suffered tyre damage in stage four and also reported a steering issue that was repaired at the remote service.

Evans benefitted from a myriad of dramas that struck his rivals to climb to fourth, 1m21.5s off the lead.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 (Photo by: Toyota Racing)

“It has been typical Acropolis really, it has been a very tough day out in front and obviously Seb has done amazing from second on the road,” said Evans.

“We had no answer for him but obviously to be here without issue is something and it puts us in better position for tomorrow.”

Gregoire Munster led M-Sport-Ford’s charge in fifth despite picking up a pair of punctures in stage four. Luckily he was able to press on without the need to change wheels during the stage, before ending the afternoon with an impressive turn of pace. His team-mate Josh McErlean lost more than two minutes to punctures.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who dropped two minutes in the morning’s first stage to a puncture, held sixth.

Katsuta’s team-mate two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera endured an eventful day. The Finn initially struggled to find the balance in his GR Yaris before the roughness of the stage took its toll on the car bending its steering.

Rovanpera held fourth heading into the afternoon stages before he became the latest to suffer a puncture that saw him endure a two-minute time loss, dropping him to seventh.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1 (Photo by: Vincent Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport)

Neuville declared his Friday a “disaster” when a second puncture on stage five arrived having already been delayed in the previous test. The Belgian went from leading the rally to ending the day with a stage win in eighth overall.

Oliver Solberg expertly avoided drama to finish Friday in ninth as the top WRC2 runner.

Two Rally1 crews were forced to retire from the day. Toyota’s Sami Pajari had run as high as third and was sitting fifth when he had to retire with a technical issue. M-Sport’s Martins Sesks retired with a fuel system problem.