Tänak in the lead of the Acropolis Rally at the end of Friday

Ott Tänak ended Friday at the top of the standings in the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. The Hyundai driver holds a 3.0-second lead over his teammate Adrien Fourmaux. Temperatures of 40°C and extreme road conditions knocked out several cars from the pack in Greece.

Ogier loses lead in the afternoon

Sébastien Ogier led for most of the day. He won both passes through Aghii Theodori in the morning and built a 6.1-second gap over Tänak. His position as the second car on the road cost him time in the afternoon stages due to sweeping effects.

The eight-time champion finished third, 16.9 seconds behind. He considers his position good starting from second place on Saturday.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Fourmaux wins three stages and challenges for the lead

Fourmaux overcame a tough start when he got stuck in Katsuta's dust during SS2. He won three stages and became the fastest driver of the day.

Tänak retained the lead without winning any stages. His only issue was a deflated tire toward the end of SS4, but he lost minimal time.

Ott Tänak said: "It was definitely a very positive day overall. Of course, it was sometimes hard to keep everything together, but I think in the end we should be happy that we didn’t have any big issues with the tires or the car."

Evans holds fourth place from first on the road

Evans finished fourth, 1:21.5 behind the leader. As the first car on the road, he faced the worst of the sweeping effects and reported struggles with his GR Yaris.

"It was a difficult position, especially with the afternoon stages, having to clean each one," Evans explained. "I’m not particularly happy with how the day went or how hard it was to find a good feeling in the conditions we faced."

The championship leader will start fifth on Saturday and can attack from a better position.

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Neuville drops to eighth after double puncture

Neuville took the lead after SS3, but two punctures cost him three minutes. A front-left puncture in Aghii Theodori 2 forced him to complete the stage on the rim, losing 40 seconds.

"We took two hits today," Neuville said. "We pushed, we deserved more, but sometimes it’s a lottery."

Katsuta and Rovanperä lose two minutes each

Both Toyota drivers stopped to change wheels. Katsuta did so in SS2, and Rovanperä in SS6. Each stop cost them roughly two minutes.

Katsuta recovered to sixth place. Rovanperä finished seventh and reported excessive oversteer with his GR Yaris in the extreme conditions.

Munster fifth with Ford as others retire

The Luxembourg driver for M-Sport finished fifth, 1:43.3 behind the leader. Munster avoided trouble and adopted a conservative strategy for the weekend.

The retirements of Sesks and Pajari reduced the number of Rally1 cars in contention. Both hope to restart on Saturday.

Saturday features three classic Acropolis stages

The second leg moves to the mountains south of Lamia. Pavliani, Karoutes, and Inohori will be run twice, totaling 123.44 timed kilometers. The roads will differ from Friday’s, with less rocky bedrock.

EKO Acropolis Rally Greece Overall Standings

After SS7 - Friday, June 27, 2025