WRC Rally Acropoli, first day: ok Rovanpera

taketonews

The heavy rains of the last few days did not prevent the start of the Rally of Greece. The Toyota Finn was the fastest on the opening day: he precedes three Hyundais

Julius Martina

– Milan

Strong storms have hit Greece in recent days, extreme weather conditions that had led to thoughts of a possible cancellation of the Acropolis Rally. The situation fortunately improved in the last few hours and the race was able to start as scheduled, with the show test in the port of Athens. The championship leader, Kalle Rovanpera, was the fastest, finishing the first day in the lead. The anticipation is mounting for the Friday specials, made very muddy by the large quantities of water that rained during the week.

shakedown cancelled

—

The drivers did not have the opportunity to test their cars on dirt roads today. The morning shakedown was canceled due to difficult weather conditions, making Friday’s practice a sort of leap in the dark in terms of set-up. The first round of the Greek race took place in the port area of ​​Athens, with a very technical show test on an asphalt surface. Kalle Rovanpera, on Toyota, set the fastest time ahead of the entire trio of Hyundai i20s at the start of the race. Esapekka Lappi stops just 3 tenths behind his compatriot, but the gaps are very small even when compared to his teammates. Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak’s Ford Puma complete the top 5 all within one second. Slightly further behind was eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, sixth in a Toyota Yaris. Teammate Elfyn Evans, Rovanpera’s rival in the World Championship, finished only 12th.

wrc2

—

All the protagonists of the championship dedicated to Rally 2 cars are present in Greece. Andreas Mikkelsen’s Skoda leads the standings, ahead of his brand mates Nikolay Gryazin and Marco Bulacia by a few tenths. On Friday, 5 special tests are scheduled, for a total of around 100 timed kilometres.

wrc, acropoli rally: the day-1 ranking

—

The ranking of the first day of the Acropolis Rally

Watch all Formula 1® live streaming only on NOW. Activate your Sport Pass now and also enjoy MotoGP™, European cups, tennis, basketball and all Sky sports in live streaming.

  1. Rovanpera (Toyota) 1:32.92 2.
  2. Lappi (Hyundai) +0.3
  3. Neuville (Hyundai) +0.4
  4. Deaf (Hyundai) +0.5
  5. Tanal (Ford) +0.7
  6. Ogier (Toyota) +1.3
  7. Katsuta (Toyota) +1.3
  8. Loubet (Ford) +1.7

© REPRODUCTION RESERVED



ttn-14