Neuville holds a comfortable 40-second lead, but this year’s Acropolis Rally has already proven its rough nature multiple times. Neuville was third-fastest on the Loutraki stage, just 2.6 seconds behind his teammate Ott Tänak, who set the fastest time.
“No risk at all. Try to follow the lines. It’s very loose, but the ruts are getting bigger and we can benefit from the traction. We need to be careful on the next one,” Neuville commented.
Sordo had a tough time on the last stage of the morning loop, where a puncture damaged much of the rear right side panels of his car. The Spanish veteran was forced to wear ski goggles to see better, as dust continued to enter the car despite repairs. Sordo finished the stage fourth-fastest and held onto his second-place position in the rally.
“I look more stupid than I am, no? We have the best mechanics in the world, they fixed it. I am so sorry for them, luckily we worked on the car. We didn’t take any risks because we already made a mistake. We’ll try to finish like this,” Sordo said.
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier remains in third place. He trails Sordo by 45 seconds, and without further issues for the Spaniard, Ogier is unlikely to improve his position.
“Today has alot of loose, but the grip is better in this one, than in other stages.” Ogier explained.
Tänak, who led the rally earlier in the morning, suffered two punctures on the opening stage of Saturday and dropped to fourth place.
“Very slow and twisty stage, grip is low,” Tänak summarised.
Sami Pajari continues to lead the WRC2 class and is impressively fifth overall. Estonian Robert Virves, who is second in the class, is 19.1 seconds behind Pajari.
There are still two more special stages to run on Saturday at the Acropolis Rally. The competition will conclude on Sunday.
Acropolis Rally standings after SS10/15:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 2:41:27.2 |
| 2. | Dani Sordo | Hyundai | +40.0 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +1:25.0 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +3:22.7 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +4:26.5 |
| 6. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +4:45.6 |
| 7. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +5:27.1 |
| 7. | Fabrizio Zaldivar | Citroen | +6:04.1 |
| 9. | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | Skoda | +6:06.9 |
Acropolis Rally itinerary (CET) :
Thursday, 5 September 08:01 Shakedown: Lygaria (3.62 km) Friday, 6 September 06:58 SS1: Ano Pavliani 1 (22.47 km) 08:09 SS2: Dafni 1 (21.67 km) 10:17 SS3: Tarzan 1 (23.37 km) 12:16 Service (30 min) 13:29 SS4: Ano Pavliani 2 (22.47 km) 15:40 SS5: Dafni 2 (21.67 km) 16:48 SS6: Tarzan 2 (23.37 km) Saturday, 7 September 07:16 SS7: Rengini (28.67 km) 09:37 SS8: Thiva (20.95 km) 12:05 SS9: Aghii Theodori 1 (25.87 km) 13:58 Tyre fitting zone (15 min) 14:46 SS10: Loutraki (12.90 km) 16:05 SS11: Aghii Theodori 2 (25.87 km) 20:05 SS12: EKO SSS (1.97 km) Sunday, 8 September 07:59 SS13: Inohori (17.47 km) 09:05 SS14: Eleftherohori 1 (18.29 km) 11:15 Service (15 min) 12:15 SS15: Eleftherohori 2 (18.29 km) Power Stage
