Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville moved a step nearer to claiming his first FIA World Rally Championship title after successful a grueling and twist-filled Acropolis Rally Greece.
The Belgian (above) mastered the tough, rock-strewn, all-gravel phases round Lamia to move up a Hyundai Motorsport 1-2-3 end, forward of i20 N Rally1 teammates Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak, with Neuville’s predominant title rival Sebastien Ogier struggling a dramatic roll on the rally-closing Wolf Energy Stage whereas heading in the right direction to complete second general.
Ogier was in a position to push his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 again onto its wheels and end the rally, the eight-time WRC champ crucially securing the 15 factors scored on Saturday night time, however he plummeted down the general rally standings after dropping greater than 20 minutes.
Frenchman Ogier had led early within the three-day rally, however slipped behind when his automobile was crippled by a turbocharger failure late on Friday’s opening leg. Tanak and Sordo additionally misplaced beneficial time, each struggling tire harm on Saturday that dashed their very own victory hopes and catapulted Neuville into the lead.
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier had charged again to second, however rolled on the closing stage to place a significant dent in his WRC title hopes. McKlein/Motorsport Pictures
Even Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe weren’t completely resistant to the rally’s brutality. A misfiring engine plagued their Hyundai on the opening morning, however the pair managed to regroup and adopted a smart technique, fastidiously balancing danger and reward to keep away from additional calamities on the treacherous street surfaces.
His Greek victory stretched Neuville’s lead within the WRC drivers’ standings to 34 factors over Ogier, with Tanak two extra factors again in third. However with 90 factors nonetheless obtainable from the remaining three rounds, and Ogier switching from a part-time marketing campaign to a full-on assault on a ninth title, it’s nonetheless removed from over. Within the WRC’s producers’ championship, Hyundai prolonged its benefit over Toyota Gazoo Racing to 35 factors.
“I didn’t have the data on Ogier’s crash in any respect, and once I noticed the automobile I nonetheless wasn’t certain it was him,” stated Neuville. “I understood from that time on that I simply needed to deliver residence the automobile and get via.
“Since yesterday morning we understood that we needed to get via and to observe our aims. I’m actually pleased with my workforce as properly, and Martijn, too — we received the automobile to the tip and that’s what issues.”
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville celebrates a near-flawless Acropolis Rally win – one which places him a step nearer to a primary WRC title. Jaanus Ree/Purple Bull Content material Pool
With Ogier in hassle, Tanak collected 11 of a doable 12 factors from Tremendous Sunday. The 2019 WRC champ additionally claimed his fiftieth WRC podium.
Elfyn Evans’ title aspirations took a significant hit when he rolled his Toyota late on Saturday, whereas M-Sport Ford duo Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster have been additionally pressured to rejoin below restart guidelines following their very own incidents on Friday and Saturday resectively. For Fourmaux, there was small comfort in taking quickest time on the bonus points-paying Wolf Energy Stage, however the Puma Rally1 driver’s possibilities of incomes a top-three end within the remaining WRC standings now appear distant.
In WRC2, the second tier of worldwide rallying, Sami Pajari clinched the category victory within the closest method doable, the Finnish rising star counting on countback guidelines after finishing the occasion stage on time with Robert Virves.
Pajari, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, appeared to have his third WRC2 win of the season within the bag as he headed into the closing Wolf Energy Stage with a close to 30-second benefit over Estonian Virves’ Skoda Fabia RS. However in true Acropolis Rally model, drama unfolded on the final second.
A deflating front-left tire three miles from the end line left Pajari quickly dropping time. By the point he crossed the stage finish, Virves had clawed again the hole, leaving each drivers deadlocked on whole general time.
As per the WRC rules, the tiebreaker was decided by the quickest time on the rally’s opening stage — a decisive benefit for Pajari, who’d been 19.7s faster on Friday morning’s 13.96-mile Ano Pavliani check.
“About 5 kilometers (three miles) from the end, I noticed we had a puncture, and I knew the best choice was to maintain going moderately than cease to alter it,” defined a shocked Pajari. “After we crossed the road, I regarded round to see if anybody knew the end result, however no person appeared to know. It took a couple of minutes to seek out out that we had gained, and it was an enormous aid.”
He now trails WRC2 championship chief Oliver Solberg, who skipped the Acropolis Rally as one in all his seven points-counting occasions, by simply three markers.
Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver Sami Pajari dead-heated with Robert Virves in WRC2, solely taking the win on countback. McKlein/Motorsport Pictures
The WRC now heads throughout the Atlantic to South America for spherical 11 at Rally Chile, Sept. 26-29. The Concepcion-based occasion, which options breathtaking, all-gravel mountain phases, will likely be essential to Ogier’s persevering with chase of Neuville within the WRC’s general title battle.
WRC Rally Acropolis Greece, remaining positions after Leg Three, SS15
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h38m04.2s
2 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m36.8s
3 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m57.3s
4 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 winner) +7m01.1s
5 Robert Virves/Aleks Lesk (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +7m01.1s
6 Yohan Rossel/Florian Barral (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +7m31.9s
7 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +9m54.0s
8 Fabrizio Zaldivar/Marcelo der Ohannesian (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +11m27.9s
9 Josh McErlean/James Fulton (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +12m27.2s
10 Robert Dapra/Luca Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +13m44.9s
WRC Drivers’ Championship after 10 of 13 rounds
1 Neuville 192 factors
2 Sebastien Ogier 158
3 Tanak 154
4 Elfyn Evans 140
5 Adrien Fourmaux 130
WRC Producers’ Championship after 10 of 13 rounds
1 Hyundai Motorsport 445 factors
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing 410
3 M-Sport Ford 226
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