Hyundai Motorsport is celebrating a fantastic 1-2-3 result at Acropolis Rally, where Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe scored their second victory of the season to extend their advantage in the championship standings.
Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera and Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja joined the Belgian Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew on the podium in second and third place following a crash for Sébastien Ogier on the final stage. The result matches the team’s first-ever 1-2-3 finish at the same event in 2022.
Three stages were contested on Super Sunday in Greece: Inohori (SS13, 17.47km), a completely new test ran only once, and Eleftherohori (SS14/15, 18.29km). Heavy overnight rain and thunderstorms dramatically impacted conditions on the first run of Eleftherohori, with crews battling changing grip levels and unpredictable muddy sections that later dried out for the Power Stage.
Neuville conquered the Rally of the Gods with a measured approach across all 15 tricky and treacherous stages. The Belgian claimed the lead of the rally on SS9 on Saturday after both his team-mates hit trouble with punctures, carefully navigating the remaining stages to remain in first at the end of Saturday and secure 18 points. This continued on Sunday, where the Belgian’s canny drive saw him finish fourth in both the Super Sunday and Power Stage standings and secure his hard-earned win. Neuville and Wydaeghe have extended their advantage in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings to 34 points with three events remaining.
Sordo’s Sunday mission was to safely navigate the remaining three stages to confirm 15 points for finishing second on Saturday. While the Spaniard dropped a position to Ogier on the opening stage, he remained focused on bringing the car home in third. Ogier’s incident on the Power Stage then promoted Sordo back to second. Sordo was also awarded two additional points in the Super Sunday scores.
After a frustrating opening stage on Saturday saw Tänak and Järveoja drop from first to fourth, Sunday was all about scoring as many points on offer. While nursing a misfiring engine, the Estonian crew claimed two top-three stage times to sit second in the Super Sunday fight with just the Power Stage remaining.
Expecting to finish fourth, the Estonians focused on a strong final push; second place netted them four additional points. However, the story of Acropolis was not over yet: Ogier’s accident meant Tänak inherited both the lead of the Super Sunday standings and third place. As a result, Tänak has moved up into second place in the drivers’ standings behind team-mate Neuville.
As well as now occupying first and second in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship, Hyundai Motorsport departs Greece with a 35-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings.
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