The second day of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece has come to an end. Ott Tänak narrowly leads after the days 6 stages.
Day One
The first day of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece saw drivers contest a single SuperSpecial stage. Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tänak tied for the stage win. Meaning they would take a 0.9-second lead over Takamoto Katsuta into the second day.
Day Two, Morning Loop, Stages 2-4
Sebastien Ogier took sole ownership of the event lead after the opening three stages of the day. Ogier won two stages to take a 6.1-second lead over Ott Tänak. On stage two Katsuta, Sesks and McErlean had a puncture. On stage four Neuville and Pajari had punctures, while Ogier and Tänak had slow punctures.
Day Two, Afternoon Loop, Stages 5-7
Ott Tänak took the rally lead during the three stages in the afternoon loop. Adrien Fourmaux took two stage wins to move into second overall, three seconds behind the Estonian. Thierry Neuville had a puncture on SS5, while Sami Pajari retired on the road section between SS5 and SS6. Rovanperä had a puncture in SS6. Sesks retired before SS7.
Quotes
Toyota
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“It was a ‘normal’ Acropolis day today and very demanding, but I think we have done well. Starting first, second and third and cleaning the road, you will always lose a bit of time. Seb did a great drive from second on the road and Elfyn did what he could and they are still in a good position to attack tomorrow. Taka and Kalle may have lost time changing tyres mid-stage but this is the Acropolis. When I first won this rally in 1986, I was a minute and a half behind after the first stage and by the second day I was leading by two minutes. Anything can still happen!”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It was tough today. It was hot and we definitely suffered opening the road. It was a tough position to be in, especially with how the afternoon stages were, having to clean every one. I am not particularly happy with how the day went and with how difficult it was to get a good feeling in the conditions that we faced. Fourth is a reasonable position to be in with several others having had trouble today, but there is still a long way to go and we need to keep driving a clean rally.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s been a demanding day on the cars, the tyres and the crews – it has been so hot. I wasn’t able to have the pace that I wanted in the morning which was quite annoying. Also, the roads were so rough that with many big hits to the car we picked up some damage and carried this for the rest of the day. On a rally like this you need some luck and we didn’t have it today but tomorrow we can try again.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“Overall the day has been very positive; to be where we are from second on the road is better than we expected. The morning loop was especially good for us with the two stage wins in Aghii Theodori. Loutraki on the other hand was a proper taste of what was to come in the afternoon – on those stages the cleaning effect was much harder and we lost some time. I am still pretty pleased with what we achieved and with the car, and with a better start position tomorrow we can be even more competitive.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Unfortunately we had to change a tyre early in the first stage this morning; we’re not sure what happened but the roads were rough and there was a very big step in the bedrock. But there can be many dramas on Acropolis, so I made an effort to avoid a similar issue later and also avoid any mistakes. By the end of the day we recovered to sixth overall, which is good considering what happened this morning. It is still a long way to go and anything can happen, so I will keep pushing enough while avoiding trouble.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“We had really tough and tricky conditions today. There are so many rocks and anything you hit can lead to trouble. I was pushing in some places but being clever in the tricky sections. It was going quite well in the morning; we were in the game and I was really happy with the car and the driving. Unfortunately after SS5 we found we had a technical issue and couldn’t go any further. It was a pity but Acropolis is so rough that these things can happen, and hopefully we can restart tomorrow.”
Hyundai
Ott Tänak
“It’s been a very positive day all together. We could see that it was a super demanding day on many fronts, so at times it was difficult to keep it all in one piece, but we are happy that we didn’t have any troubles with the car or the tyres. It’s been really long: 15 hours in the car in 41 degrees means it’s been a difficult journey. Tomorrow will be a much slower day; very technical, twisty and narrow passes through the forests. Let’s see what it has in store, I’m sure it won’t get any easier.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“Today was really positive, but we need to get some time back from SS2 this morning when we were slowed down by Katsuta’s dust. It was a really good day for me, we were managing well on the rougher parts of the stages so we could push where it was clean, and this paid off. Generally, our road position was beneficial, but we still had the issue of some really rough areas that forced us to slow down, compromising us a bit throughout the day. Nevertheless, the handling of the car was great. When you start to push too hard in Greece, you get into trouble, so I will keep today’s approach for tomorrow.”
Thierry Neuville
“We didn’t expect to get two punctures in a row and lose that much time, so that was a huge frustration – it felt like we got hit by a big hammer twice. I really struggled to bounce back this afternoon; we didn’t have enough liquid in the car and I was really not feeling well, so altogether a big struggle. It’s definitely a tough event, but I have never had this many punctures since the start of a season in my career. We need to have something more reliable – deciding results on tyres is not nice.”
Cyril Abiteaboul – Team Principal
“As always, it’s been an eventful day. Of course we have a 1-2, but we feel like Thierry could have been up there with Ott and Adrien. It’s always good to see our car performing well – the pace is there and everyone wants to push, but we know we need to take a conservative approach. We know what the risks are here, and despite all the work the team puts in, there’s still a limit of what you can anticipate on these difficult roads. Thierry has already been hit twice, and there will still be surprises to come. Today was not about outright pace or to be leading at any cost, and we knew we had to go in today with a certain margin – and Ott made the most of that today. We need to continue with the same realistic approach tomorrow.”