Thierry Neuville and Sébastien Ogier traded blows during the second leg of the Acropolis Rally and arrived at the end of Saturday separated by 4.1 seconds, with the race wide open for the four Sunday stages. The Belgian started the day with a 9.7‑second lead, Ogier chipped away at it stage by stage, cutting it to 3.7 seconds by the midday service, but Neuville responded on Ghymno to strike back. The Frenchman clawed back more time at the close, with another scratch on Menalo Mt., leaving the gap at the narrowest margin of the entire rally.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

The leg was interrupted during Stage 12 due to a safety issue. A large group of spectators invaded the stage while it was live and tried to leave the area along the same route as the rally, forcing race control to deploy the red flag. The FIA and rally organisers issued a statement warning fans that it is forbidden to access a live stage and asking them to follow the marshals' instructions to avoid further stage cancellations.

Ogier admitted he did not push flat out on the roughest sections. "I didn't go flat out because of the risk of punctures. The guys ahead were suffering a lot of punctures, so I preferred not to take the risk," he explained. For the afternoon, he chose to carry only a single spare tyre, a strategy that paid off despite some scares. Neuville arrived at the service park with damage to the left‑front of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and a small fluid leak from the transmission, though he said it was not a concern.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

The biggest loser of the day was the championship leader, Elfyn Evans, who picked up a puncture on the final stage of Saturday and lost one minute and fifty seconds changing the wheel. "The deflation was very sudden. I was very close to crashing because I couldn't brake for the next corner," he recounted. The three‑position comeback he had made during the day was wiped out, and he finished seventh, out of contention for the front positions.

Takamoto Katsuta capitalised on his teammate's misfortune to move up to third place overall, with a margin of more than two minutes over Adrien Fourmaux. The Hyundai driver snatched fourth place from Josh McErlean by one second on the final stage. McErlean secured his best WRC performance with an error‑free fifth place. Sami Pajari moved up to sixth, while Dani Sordo dropped to eighth due to a puncture. Andreas Mikkelsen leads WRC2 by 13.9 seconds over Robert Virves.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Sunday offers four stages in the hills around Loutraki, with two passes of Aghii Theodori and Loutraki, the latter serving as the Power Stage. These are stages that the WRC has not visited since 2013 and feature a surface even more degraded than Saturday's. With the FIA's warning to spectators and 4.1 seconds separating Neuville and Ogier, the outcome of the Acropolis remains open until the very last kilometre.

WRC Overall Saturday - EKO Acropolis Rally Greece 2026

POS	#	driver/codriver	team	brand	car	time
1	11	Thierry NEUVILLE Martijn WYDAEGHE	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	2:20:28.2
2	1	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 03.7
3	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 56.0
4	18	Takamoto KATSUTA Aaron JOHNSTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 2:03.2
5	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 2:30.7
6	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 2:39.2
7	22	Mārtinš SESKS Renārs FRANCIS	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 2:56.3
8	6	Daniel SORDO Cándido CARRERA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 4:04.6
9	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 4:21.5
10	99	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 13:58.7
11	95	Jon ARMSTRONG Shane BYRNE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 15:39.9
12	9	Jourdan SERDERIDIS Frédéric MICLOTTE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 32:59.6
13	26	Andreas MIKKELSEN Jørn LISTERUD	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 5:06.1
14	27	Robert VIRVES Jakko VIILO	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 5:19.4
15	24	Alejandro CACHÓN Borja ROZADA	Toyota España	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 6:13.8
16	29	Jan SOLANS Rodrigo SANJUAN	Ph.ph	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 6:18.2
17	23	Roope KORHONEN Anssi VIINIKKA	Rautio Motorsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 7:01.0
18	40	Pablo SARRAZIN Yannick ROCHE	Pablo Sarrazin	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 7:25.7
19	31	Diego DOMÍNGUEZ Rogelio PEÑATE	Diego Domínguez	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 8:12.1
20	21	Léo ROSSEL Guillaume MERCOIRET	2c Junior Team	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 8:12.4
21	34	Mattéo CHATILLON Maxence CORNUAU	Mattéo Chatillon	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 10:04.8
22	30	Yuki YAMAMOTO James FULTON	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 12:36.0
23	32	Mille JOHANSSON Johan GRÖNVALL	Mille Johansson	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 13:17.1
24	45	Conner MARTELL Alessandro GELSOMINO	2c Junior Team	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 13:57.4
25	47	Miguel GRANADOS Marc MARTÍ	Miguel Granados	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 15:55.5
26	49	Ugur SOYLU Mehmet YALÇIN	Gp Garage My Team	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 18:58.3
27	46	Alejandro MAURO Ariday BONILLA	Alejandro Mauro	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 20:02.2
28	61	Ioannis PLAGOS Christos KOUZIONIS	Hellenic Police	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 22:29.9
29	41	Ali TÜRKKAN Oytun ALBAYRAK	Tosfed	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 23:30.0
30	44	Epameinondas KARANIKOLAS Georgios KAKAVAS	Epameinondas Karanikolas	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 24:01.2
31	42	Alejandro GALANTI Marcelo TOYOTOSHI	Alejandro Galanti	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 26:02.2
32	51	Cristian DOLOFAN Traian PAVEL	Cristian Dolofan	Citroen	C3	+ 28:14.3
33	63	Efthymios CHALKIAS Marios TSAOUSOGLOU	Efthymios Chalkias	Skoda	Fabia Evo	+ 28:34.0
34	62	Gabriele CAMPAGNOLI Nicola ARENA	Gabriele Campagnoli	Hyundai	I20 N	+ 29:35.7
35	37	Andrea LAFARJA Germán MAUNE	Andrea Lafarja	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 34:49.9
36	25	Roberto DAPRÀ Luca GUGLIELMETTI	Roberto Daprà	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 39:26.5
37	50	Johannes KEFERBÖCK Ilka MINOR	Johannes Keferböck	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 62:02.3
38	28	Gus GREENSMITH Jonas ANDERSSON	Gus Greensmith	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 65:33.3
39	36	Romet JÜRGENSON Siim OJA	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 65:55.2
40	48	Adrien MOSCA Julie AMBLARD	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 68:19.7
41	43	Panagiotis ROUSTEMIS Christos BAKLORIS	Panagiotis Roustemis	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 121:36.7
42	52	Matteo FONTANA Alessandro ARNABOLDI	Matteo Fontana	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 17:18.1
43	53	Tymek ABRAMOWSKI Jakub WRÓBEL	Tymek Abramowski	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 21:10.3
44	58	FLANDY Konstantinos STEFANIS	Flandy	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 26:18.0
45	56	Nataniel BRUUN Javier MARTÍNEZ	Nataniel Bruun	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 36:52.4
46	65	Theodoros KALAMARAS Dimitrios LAMPRAKIS	Theodoros Kalamaras	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 37:17.0
47	64	Georgios DELAPORTAS Ilias PANAGIOTOUNIS	Georgios Delaportas	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 39:19.1
48	59	Nikolaos NTAVARIS Konstantinos MAKRIS	Nikolaos Ntavaris	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 47:30.9
49	57	Grzegorz BONDER Kamil HELLER	Grzegorz Bonder	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 69:36.5
50	67	Petros VASILOPOULOS Panagiotis KOUKLIABIS	Petros Vasilopoulos	Ford	Fiesta	+ 83:09.8
51	66	Dimitris PARELLIS Andreas PAPANDREOU	Dimitris Parellis	Opel	Corsa	+ 132:03.4
52	68	Georgios DODOS Nikolaos INTZOGLOU	Georgios Dodos	Renault	Clio Rs Line	+ 61:19.6