Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja dominated EKO Acropolis Rally Greece on Saturday, delivered a near faultless performance, taking five stage wins from six – beaten only by Sebastian Ogier on SS10 and then by just 0.1 seconds as the Toyota Gazoo Racing star held on to second overall.
Tanak takes a 43.6 second lead into Sunday’s four stage finale, on the cusp of giving Hyundai their long awaited first victory of the season.
“We’ve generally had a very good day. Even in the afternoon, it’s true that some bedrock was threatening us sometimes, but generally it was smoother and more consistent – a bit better than expected. We had a good rhythm, and we maintained all day. While we are still in the lead, it’s important to remember that we haven’t scored any points yet and we still have some rough stages to go, including one that is new and very long, so this is always very demanding. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow to bring this home.”
Ogier initially trailed Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux until he clobbered a a piece of Greek countryside which damaged their suspension, but a makeshift fix got them back on the road and to midday service – dropping them to third overall.
While a tyre came off its rim on SS11, Fourmaux was undeterred, and still managed to claim a top-five stage time to retain his overall position. After a tyre came off the rim in stage 11, the rest of day was smooth sailing, and the crew go into Sunday with a comfortable cushion of just under a minute from Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin.
Evans remained a distant fourth after a steady but unspectacular day. The Toyota man repeatedly described the conditions as “very rough” and ended the leg over three minutes off the lead – but with championship rival Thierry Neuville behind, Sunday’s bonus-point opportunities remain critical.
Kalle Rovanperä was running mid-pack before losing his brakes and going off in SS11, while Takamoto Katsuta also went off and became beached in the same test leading to retirement for both Toyota drivers.
It was another bruising leg for Neuville. After losing time to a puncture in the morning, the Hyundai man fought back into fifth overall – though still over a minute behind Evans.
“We had the pace,” Neuville reflected. “But three punctures [this weekend] didn’t allow us to do what we can.”
Grégoire Munster completed the leg sixth despite nursing a faulty handbrake throughout the day. Oliver Solberg continued to lead WRC2 in seventh overall with a comfortable buffer over Gus Greensmith, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Yohan Rossel.
