WRC Acropolis Rally Greece: Neuville ends punishing day with slender lead
by Tom Howard · AutosportHyundai is on top after a brutal day where tyre preservation became crucial on the rough gravel stages
Thierry Neuville emerged from an eventful Friday with a 9.7s lead over Toyota rival Sebastien Ogier as World Rally Championship's Acropolis Rally Greece served up a punishing day.
The Hyundai driver was among the few to avoid drama on the rough gravel stages. The two-time Acropolis rally winner held an 11.0s advantage over Ogier at the midday remote service after team-mate and early leader Adrien Fourmaux lost the lead to a puncture on stage four in the morning.
The rocky stages meant tyre preservation was key as crews strived to stay out of trouble. Neuville witnessed Ogier cut his lead to 9.3s after stage five, but was able to restore that to 10.1s after winning stage six.
Ogier, who was also glad to avoid drama in the tricky conditions, ended the day by cutting Neuville’s lead to 9.7s on the day’s final stage.
“It's always nice to lead, but it doesn't mean anything to us at the moment,” said Neuville. “The rally is very long, tomorrow will be very tough for the tyres and the car. Let's see what the day brings.”
Ogier added: "It's been a good day for us, we can be happy with that. At the moment, I just focus on myself and stay out of trouble."
The battle for the podium places took a dramatic shift as M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong experienced the highs and lows of the WRC within the space of two stages.
Armstrong had delivered arguably the drive of the rally to sit in third as the crews headed to a midday remote service. The Northern Irishman continued to impress by claiming a maiden WRC stage win as the action resumed in the afternoon. Armstrong managed to edge Ogier by 0.6s to claim a head-turning fastest time.
"I'm surprised I wasn't expecting it to be honest," said Armstrong. "We thought after the tarmac season that would be our best hope but to get it on gravel is brilliant."
Moments later Armstrong’s rally unravelled in the next stage as his Ford Puma suffered a simultaneous front-right puncture and a loss of power, which cost more than four minutes. After changing the wheel, a turbo problem persisted, which eventually resulted in a retirement on the road section after the stage.
Armstrong’s exit promoted Hyundai’s Fourmaux to third (+42.4s). The Frenchman had led the rally during the morning before his i20 N picked up a front-right puncture in stage four.
The untimely demise for Armstrong lifted M-Sport-Ford team-mates Josh McErlean and Martins Sesks to fourth (+1m10.1s) and fifth (+1m16.9s) respectively.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta also faced the difficulties of road sweeping, being second on the road, but the Japanese driver managed to survive the tricky conditions to sit in sixth overall (+1m33.2s).
"No chance to drive in these super rough conditions. They [the FIA] need to find some solution because this is dangerous, it is a normal route, but we can't drive normal,” said a frustrated Katsuta.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans knew he would face a tough task opening the road given five of the six stages were first-pass only. The job proved to be even harder than he anticipated as the Welshman completed the morning loop in ninth.
Evans was able to end the day in seventh (+1m55.2s) after overhauling a struggling Dani Sordo and Toyota’s Sami Pajari, who was forced to stop and change a wheel in stage five.
Sordo’s rally had already been derailed by a puncture in stage three that required a wheel change on his Hyundai i20 N in the test. The Spaniard struggled to generate traction in the afternoon stages as tyre preservation became a key objective. Sordo completed the day in eighth (+2m49.5s).
Sordo had been ahead of Oliver Solberg, who spent the majority of the day frustrated at having to manage his tyres after suffering a front-left puncture in Friday’s opening stage. The Monte Carlo rally winner’s day ended in retirement on the last test of the day, as Solberg lost the rear of his GR Yaris and his car became beached on a bank.
"I just came in a bit hot and got the rear out and got stuck on the bank there. It was a slippery surface, that is for sure," said Solberg. "Today wasn't really about the speed, after that puncture I was trying to drive slow. I haven't been pushing today. It is a hard time, and it seems that is the way it is at the moment."
The top 10 was rounded out by WRC2 leader Andreas Mikkelsen and Pajari. The latter’s day was also complicated by a brief stop during stage four in the morning.
Crews will tackle six more rough gravel stages on Saturday.
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- The Autosport.com Team
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