The EKO Acropolis Rally Greece shakedown has come to an end. Thierry Neuville topped the shakedown stage.
Rally1
Thierry Neuville kicked off the weekend by setting the fastest time on the shakedown stage. Neuville set a time 0.9 seconds faster than Takamoto Katsuta to top the shakedown. Ott Tänak finished with the third fastest time, 1.5 seconds slower than Neuville and 0.6 seconds slower than Katsuta. Dani Sordo was fourth fastest on the shakedown stage, finishing with a time 0.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmuax rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.3 seconds slower than Sordo.
WRC2
Gus Greensmith topped the shakedown stage in the WRC2 class. As the British driver set a time 1.7 seconds faster than Robert Virves. Yohan Rossel was third fastest on the stage, two seconds slower than Greensmith and 03 seconds slower than Virves. Georg Linnamäe finished fourth fastest on the stage, 0.5 seconds slower than Rossel. Pierre-Louis Loubet, who nearly won the event a few years ago, rounded out the top five on the shakedown stage. As Loubet finished with a time 0.9 seconds slower than Linnamäe.
What To Expect From Day One
The first day of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece will see drivers’ contest 135.02 km across six stages. With the longest of these stages is the 23.37 km Tarzan stage which will end each loop. While the shortest is the 21.67 km Dafni stage, which is the second stage on each loop. The day features one 30-minute service between loops and a 45-minute service to end the day. Thierry Neuville will be first on the road followed by Sebastian Ogier and Ott Tänak. Drivers are in for a rough event. As no rain is on the forecast which means the roads will be dry and as a result rougher for the drivers. Ogier expects this to be the roughest Acropolis in years. Only time will tell how rough the road is on the cars. Hopefully, it doesn’t get to the point where multiple drivers retire due to the conditions destroying the cars.