Sebastien Ogier moved into the lead of the Acropolis Rally after an eventful opening loop where power issues struck his World Rally Championship title rivals Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans.
A blistering effort on the final stage of a particularly arduous gravel loop helped Toyota driver Ogier regain the rally lead he held after winning the opening stage, to head to service with a 5.9s advantage.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrian Fourmaux emerged as Ogier’s nearest rival after the Frenchman climbed above Hyundai’s Ott Tanak [+9.8s], who had topped the timesheets after two stages.
Hyundai’s Dani Sordo completed the loop in fourth [+19.4s] ahead of championship-leading team-mate Neuville, hampered by an engine issue [+35.7s].
The top six was rounded out by M-Sport Gregoire Munster [+1m12.9s] after Toyota Takamoto Katsuta suffered a crash, while team-mate Evans [+8m57.3s] lost time to a puncture and a power problem.
Crews predicted this year’s Acropolis Rally to be the roughest and most challenging in recent years and it didn’t take long for the tough gravel roads to bite.
Title contender Evans suffered a puncture 15 kilometres into the opening Ano Pavliani (22.47km) stage, which cost the Toyota driver more than two minutes. The Welshman appeared to reach the stage end with his GR Yaris suffering another issue and was seen working under the bonnet of his car on the road section between stages.
Championship leader Neuville also endured a difficult start, reporting that he felt his i20 N was running on three cylinders during the test, which required roadside repairs. The Belgian was also affected by cleaning the road and ended the stage 10.3s off the pace.
The pace was set by Neuville’s nearest rival in the championship, Ogier, who has now committed to seeing out what was initially billed as a partial campaign.
The eight-time champion took the stage win by 0.6s from Hyundai’s Tanak, while M-Sport’s Fourmaux was a further two tenths of a second back.
Ogier was however frustrated by the hanging dust he faced with crews split by three-minute gaps.
Katsuta also complained about the dust that affected him at the start of the stage, before going on to set the fourth-fastest time, 2.7s adrift of Ogier and ahead of Sordo.
Munster dropped 21.6s in the stage, but was also seen working on his Ford Puma that appeared to be suffering from a problem.
The test was later cancelled when former M-Sport driver Pierre-Louis Loubet crashed into a tree, which resulted in his Rally2 Skoda catching fire. Loubet and co-driver Loris Pascaud escaped the impact unscathed.
Organisers increased the time gaps between the leading Rally1 and Rally2 crews to four minutes for the delayed second stage, Dafni [21.67km].
Katsuta’s brave gamble to take only one spare tyre to save weight appeared to pay off, as the Japanese claimed the stage by 1.9s from Tanak.
Tanak had previously set the pace with an effort two seconds faster than Ogier to leap ahead of the Frenchman and into the rally lead. Katsuta’s effort put the Toyota driver into second overall, 0.2s behind Tanak.
Ogier, affected by road cleaning but grateful for the four-minute gap, was third fastest ahead of Fourmaux and Sordo. Ogier trailed leader Tanak by 1.4s, with Fourmaux only second behind Ogier.
The issues for Neuville and Evans continued, with the former admitting he was “running on three cylinders for 50% of the stage at least”, while Evans fared much worse with his GR Yaris depleted of power.
“[It’s] not clear at the moment, we had no power, we don’t know what it is yet,” said Evans who dropped a further 3m18.7s.
Munster was also unable to resolve his gearbox issue on the road section, then suffered a handbrake problem in the stage.
Ogier delivered an impressive push to win the third and final stage of the loop [Tarzan, 23.37km] and snatch the rally lead from Tanak. The Toyota driver took one more soft tyre in his six-tyre package compared to Tanak, who had all hard compound tyres on his car in the stage. As a result, Ogier took 11.2s out of Tanak as the rally leader struggled with his car balance.
Ogier’s impressive pace resulted in a stage win by 4.9s from Fourmaux, who hoped organisers would offer him time back after being caught in the dust of Evans, who continued to nurse his wounded GR Yaris through the stage.
However, there was drama behind as Katsuta ripped a wheel off his Toyota and stopped 6.9km into the stage, dropping him out of second position.
The crews will repeat the three stages this afternoon to conclude Friday’s leg of the rally.
