Tänak delivered a dominant stage win on the nearly 20-kilometre Karoutes stage. With that effort, the Estonian extended his lead to 19.7 seconds over teammate Adrien Fourmaux.
“The setup is more normal today, so I can enjoy it a bit more,” Tänak summed up.
“Car was too soft with these compressions. Here it’s slow and twisty, then you have really fast commitment. Everything is possible in Greece, we have to stay out of trouble,” Fourmaux commented.
Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier remains in third place. He trails Fourmaux by 13.6 seconds, while rally leader Tänak is 33.3 seconds ahead of him.
“It was very slippery and it’s still cleaning car after car, not really surprising. The win is far, but with this rally you never know,” Ogier said.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans holds fourth place, with a gap of+2:08.7 seconds to the leader. Toyota’s Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta is pressuring M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster, who is currently fifth. Munster, however, managed to retain his position and leads Katsuta by 18.1 seconds.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä continues to struggle and hasn’t been able to find the required pace. The Finnish star dropped to eighth in the standings, as Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville moved ahead by 1.8 seconds.
“It was super slippy, no lines, so little amount of cars in front of me. Every time I tried to push a bit I just loose the line, no grip. Quite tricky at the moment,” Rovanperä explained.
Four more stages are scheduled for Saturday at the Acropolis Rally. The event will conclude on Sunday.
Acropolis Rally standings after SS9/17:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 1:56:56.1 |
| 2. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +19.7 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +33.3 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +2:08.7 |
| 5. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:06.4 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +3:24.5 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +3:38.8 |
| 8. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +3:40.6 |
| 9. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +4:18.2 |
Acropolis Rally Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 26 June
07.01 Shakedown: Lygaria (3.62 km)
17.05 SS1: EKO Athens (1.50 km)
Friday 27 June
06.28 SS2: Aghii Theodori 1 (26.76 km)
07.31 SS3: Loutraki (12.90 km)
09.28 SS4: Aghii Theodori 2 (26.76 km)
10.46 Remote service 20 min
13.29 SS5: Thiva (19.58 km)
15.50 SS6: Stiri (24.18 km)
18.31 SS7: Elatia (11.58 km)
Saturday 28 June
07.22 SS8: Pavliani 1 (24.58 km)
09.05 SS9: Karoutes 1 (19.48 km)
10.32 SS10: Inohori 1 (17.66 km)
12.32 Service 45 min
14.22 SS11: Pavliani 2 (24.58 km)
16.05 SS12: Karoutes 2 (19.48 km)
17.32 SS13: Inohori 2 (17.66 km)
Sunday 29 June
07.03 SS14: Smokovo 1 (26.16 km)
08.05 SS15: Tarzan 1 (23.37 km)
10.09 Service 15 min
11.32 SS16: Smokovo 2 (26.16 km)
13.15 SS17: Tarzan 2 (23.37 km) *Power Stage
