A power issue for Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier handed Hyundai’s Ott Tanak the Acropolis Rally advantage as drama struck four of the five World Rally Championship title contenders.
Tanak was the only championship challenger to avoid problems to end an attritional Friday on Greece’s rough gravel roads with a 21.8s lead over team-mate Dani Sordo.
Ogier had led the rally by 5.9s at the midday service and won three of the day’s six stages, but a turbo issue with his Toyota GR Yaris ahead of the final test dropped the Frenchman to fourth [+2m26.4s].
Championship leader and road opener Thierry Neuville completed a 1-2-3 for Hyundai, recovering to third [+45.2s] after his i20 N was reduced to three cylinders across the morning.
M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster appeared to be on course to finish the day in fourth before a double puncture in stage six dropped him to fifth [+4m08.4s].
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta challenged for the rally lead on Friday morning after winning stage two before an impact on stage three resulted in the Japanese losing a wheel and retiring from the day.
The incident added to a difficult day for Toyota after title contender Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture on the opening stage and a turbo issue. The Welshman completed the afternoon with a repaired GR Yaris but ended the loop outside the points-paying positions, 9m55 adrift.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
The Acropolis Rally’s infamous rocky roads generated headlines at the start of Friday afternoon when Adrien Fourmaux endured a costly run-in with a rock.
The M-Sport-Ford driver had navigated through Friday morning’s rough gravel stages to trail rally leader Ogier by 5.9s.
Fourmaux’s morning loop times were even more impressive considering he lost time to the hanging dust from Elfyn Evans’ wounded Toyota GR Yaris, and completed the trio of stages without hybrid power.
However, at the start of stage four, the second pass through Ano Pavliani, the Frenchman, sitting fifth in the championship standings, clipped a rock and broke the steering on his Ford Puma.
Ogier was able to continue the speed that put him into a 5.9s lead at midday service after setting the pace on stage four by 1.9s from Tanak, who moved into second following Fourmaux’s demise.
Hyundai’s Sordo, running with a hybrid issue, inherited third overall from Neuville, now driving a repaired i20 N…
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