Belgian Thierry Neuville (Huyndai) set the fastest time in the 1st special of the Acropolis rally, 10th round of the WRC world rally championship, contested Thursday evening in Athens (Greece), while the championship leader, the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä, is 8th.
Neuville beat three other Hyundais, those of Finn Teemu Suninen, WRC2 driver – the lower category -, Spaniard Dani Sordo, 3rd, and Estonian Ott Tänak, 4th.
Contested at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, this short 1.95 kilometer special, the only one on this first day, was above all a warm-up for the competitors.
The nine-time world champion in the category, the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb, who returned for a freelance trip to Greece, is 7th ahead of Rovanperä.
The Finn has already won five rallies this season and dominates the championship with 203 points against 131 for Ott Tänak, his runner-up, and 116 for Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota), 15th best time Thursday evening.
The 21-year-old prodigy could mathematically become the youngest world champion on Sunday.
“It is quite unlikely that this will happen”he however tempered Thursday. “Ott has shown pace in recent events and it looks like that’s still the case here”he continued.
The rally will get into the heart of the matter on Friday, with six stages contested during the day, and will end on Sunday after 16 stages.
