Okay, so let’s talk about Ott Tänak and his wild Saturday at the EKO Acropolis Rally in Greece. Like, I don’t know, he started with this tiny 3-second lead, and then—bam!—he blew everyone away. Seriously, five outta six stage wins! And the heat? Like that Central Greek heat that feels like it’s hugging you? Tänak just didn’t care, apparently.
He cruised in his i20 N Rally1, while others were, well, having a rough day. He’s all set to win—his first since last year in October. And get this: if things go well on Sunday, he could jump to second in the championship standings. No pressure, right?
Then we’ve got Sébastien Ogier. He wasn’t really chasing Tänak, more like, playing it safe. I mean, maybe he could’ve pushed harder. Anyway, they were neck and neck at one point, just 0.1 seconds apart! But Ogier was all, “Eh, staying out of trouble is the key.” Wise words, probably.
Now, Two Words: Adrien Fourmaux. The guy was having a decent run—until, oops, rock impact. Rear suspension meets rock, rear suspension loses. It was a mess with him losing more than a minute and battling a messed-up tire by the end. Yet, he’s hanging on to third place. Drama much?
Look, Elfyn Evans didn’t have the flashiest day. Called the conditions “very rough”—I think he’s got a flair for understatement. Sitting in fourth, chilling, over three minutes behind but not out of the game.
And oh, the Acropolis was just handing out trouble left and right. Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta? Both went off—like, literally off-road. But they’ll be back to rally on Sunday.
Thierry Neuville had his share of tire woes too. Three punctures! Yet managed to claw his way to fifth place. Felt like he had the pace, just not the luck.
Over in sixth is Grégoire Munster, having a day with a dodgy handbrake in his Ford Puma.
And FIA WRC2? Oliver Solberg is sitting pretty there. Meanwhile, Josh McErlean’s car trouble saw him drop to 13th. Broken rear driveshaft plus no handbrake—fun times.
So, Sunday. Four stages, about 99 kilometers of rally madness to wrap it all up. Starting with the Smokovo stage at some ungodly hour like 8 AM, straight to the Tarzan Wolf Power Stage—we’re talking excitement overload.
And, poof! That’s what’s happening in Greece. Sort of.
