Hyundai's Ott Tanak reigns supreme in Acropolis Rally warm-up
Tanak’s purple patch in the Championship – which has resulted in back-to-back victories at Rally Finland and Ypres Rally in Belgium – continued on this morning’s short 2.25-mile ‘Lygaria’ test. In warm and dry conditions, the Estonian’s best time came on the third and final pass when grip was at its highest as the top layer of gravel had been swept away on the previous two runs.
He ended up being three tenths of a second quicker than Hyundai Motorsport team-mate Thierry Neuville and a further six tenths of a second up on M-Sport Ford’s Craig Breen, who was victorious on the 2014 instalment of the Greek event and has labelled it his “happy hunting ground”.
“It will not be an easy rally and I think tomorrow, especially, will be demanding,” said Tanak, who will be second on the road for Friday's six stages, only one of which - the 11.25-mile ‘Loutraki’ blast - will be tackled twice by the main field.
Hyundai Motorsport returnee Dani Sordo slotted into fourth in the third I20 N Rally1 car with a time of two minutes 39 seconds - nearly six seconds quicker than his first run over the picturesque test. That came despite the series veteran complaining of being slowed by understeer in the corners early doors.
The highest-placed Toyota was that driven by Esapekka Lappi with a best effort totalling two minutes 39.3 seconds - three tenths clear of team-mate and World Rally Championship points leader Kalle Rovanpera. Given his dominance this season, the drivers' title could return home with Rovanpera this weekend if he can outscore Tanak by 18 points.
Pierre-Louis Loubet (M-Sport Ford) was seventh, Eflyn Evans (Toyota Gazoo Racing) eighth and Gus Greensmith (M-Sport Ford) ninth. The top ten was capped off by Loeb even though the Frenchman only had two bites of shakedown before a misfire surfaced and forced him to park up his Puma Rally1 and switch the engine off to prevent further damage.
