Thierry Neuville will take a slender 4.1sec lead over Sébastien Ogier into the final day of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece after another demanding and dramatic leg on Saturday.
The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver began the day 9.7sec ahead of his Toyota rival, but spent much of the leg trading time with the nine-time FIA World Rally Champion across the Peloponnese stages.
Neuville’s advantage briefly grew to 10.8sec, but Ogier’s fastest time on the final Menalo Mt test reduced the gap once again, setting up a finely balanced Sunday finale.
Neuville ended the day with front-left damage to his i20 N Rally1, although he downplayed any concern when asked whether the car would make it back to overnight service.
“It’s not a problem,” said Neuville, when asked about the damage and a small fluid leak visible at the end of the stage.
The Belgian had looked strong earlier in the afternoon, responding to Ogier’s pressure with a strong time on the shortened second pass of Ghymno.
Ogier had been the quicker of the pair through much of the morning, reducing Neuville’s lead to just 3.7sec before midday service. He then adopted a bold tyre strategy for the afternoon, carrying only one spare, and closed the day with another stage win despite admitting he was not prepared to take every risk.
“I still didn’t go full risk because of the [risk of] punctures,” Ogier said. “I had a clean drive but couldn’t really push so hard because of the people in front having the punctures.”
Saturday offered a different challenge from Friday’s rock-strewn opening leg. While there was less exposed bedrock in places, sandy roads, muddy sections beneath the trees, rough second-pass conditions and heavy road cleaning ensured the Acropolis remained among the most demanding events on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar.
Behind the leading pair, the battle for the final podium place changed repeatedly.
Adrien Fourmaux began the day third for Hyundai and again showed strong pace, winning Kolines and staying clear of the fights behind. But the Frenchman lost time changing a wheel on the shortened Ghymno stage and dropped behind Takamoto Katsuta.
Katsuta, who had spent the day balancing pace with caution, moved into third overall for Toyota and will start Sunday 2min 17.0sec behind Neuville.
“Really sorry for Elfyn,” Katsuta said after team-mate Elfyn Evans also hit trouble on the final stage. “I was very careful in some places with the bedrock. It’s really difficult and easy to get a puncture. Normally you know when you get it, but in here you just don’t know.”
Fourmaux responded on Menalo Mt, pushing hard after learning of Evans’ delay and reclaiming fourth place from Josh McErlean by just 1.0sec.
“The idea was to try and push the maximum to catch Josh to get a position for tomorrow,” Fourmaux said. “I knew about Elfyn, so I had to take my chance. I was very careful where they had a puncture as there was a big rock in the road.”
McErlean still completed an impressive day in fifth overall for M-Sport Ford. The Irishman avoided the major problems that affected several of his rivals and remains on course for the best result of his WRC career.
“It’s been good, but it’s good to get back to service,” he said.
Sami Pajari moved up to sixth for Toyota, ahead of championship leader Evans, whose difficult Acropolis continued when he stopped to change a front-right wheel on the final stage. Evans lost 1min 50.2sec and slipped to seventh overall.
“It came very unexpectedly,” Evans said. “The deflation was very sudden and I was very close to a crash as I couldn’t stop at the next corner.”
Dani Sordo is eighth overnight after also losing time with a deflation on the final stage, while Andreas Mikkelsen holds ninth overall and the WRC2 lead.
Mikkelsen ended Saturday 13.9sec clear of Toksport Škoda team-mate Robert Virves after another close day in the Rally2 fight. The Norwegian had to respond to pressure late in the day, but will carry a useful advantage into Sunday’s four remaining stages.
Sunday brings two passes of Aghii Theodori and Loutraki, with the second run through Loutraki forming the Wolf Power Stage.
