The first full day of action followed Thursday’s action which had shakedown in the morning and a super special stage in the evening which was won by Seb from Takamoto and Thierry. Elfyn was sixth in the stage. Onto the six stages then for the crews on Friday and of course Elfyn and Scott would open the road throughout the day.

 

First up then was SS2 Bauxites and at 22.97 kilometres it was a real challenge for them all. Adrien set the pace from his teammate Thierry, whilst Seb was third. The pace of the Belgians took them into the lead from their teammates Adrien and Alex pushing Seb and Vincent down to third overall. With such tricky road conditions whilst opening the road, Elfyn and Scott were tenth fastest and fell four positions to tenth overall. It was not a good start for Oliver who suffered a puncture losing almost a minute and a half and twenty-five positions as well.

 

Into SS3 Parnassos Mt another 22.28 kilometres stage and Adrien made it two in a row beating Thierry and Jon! It was a good stage for the M-Sport crews as Josh and Martins we also fourth and fifth fastest. There were some good changes in the overall leaderboard as Adrien now led from Thierry and Seb, Sami moved into fourth, Jon’s pace brought him up three positions into fifth overall.

 

Before the remote service came SS4 Stiri 1, yet another long stage at 24.18 kilometres and Seb set the pace this time from Thierry and Jon again. Adrien was only eleventh quickest after getting a puncture on the front right-hand side corner. The Frenchman fell to fourth position from the lead. All of this meant that Jon was now holding third position.

 

After the remote service it was to SS5 Elikon Mt that the crews headed to next and this stage will go down in history as the place where Jon and Shane took their first ever overall stage victory, beating Seb and Thierry. A simply brilliant drive! There was a stop for Finnish crew Sami and Marko who had a puncture to change and fell eight positions to fifteenth place.

It was back to SS6 Stiri 2 next and Thierry was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Adrien was fourth and passed Jon for third overall as the Irishman suffered first a puncture and then a loss of power as well. After the highs of the previous stage, they fell down the leaderboard.

 

Onto the final stage of the day then with SS7 Thiva, yet another single run stage. Adrien set the pace from Seb and Thierry, and they filled the top three positions overall. We lost Oliver and Elliott as they spun off and their car was beached at the edge of the road. Championship leaders Elfyn and Scott ended the day in seventh overall after opening the road.

 

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

 

Classification after Day One

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1:26:48.2 2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +9.7 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +42.4 4 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +1:10.1 5 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +1:16.9 6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:33.2 7 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:08.4 8 D. Sordo C. Carrera Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:49.5 9 A. Mikkelsen J. Listerud Skoda Fabia RS +3:10.6 10 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:13.1

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Today was a great day. The car was working very well, and I felt very confident on the stages. I tried to manage the rhythm and adapt to the conditions, pushing when it was clean and being smooth where it was rough. We did what we needed to today – obviously, you always need a bit of luck to get through without any trouble, and the rally is still long. We’re happy to be in the lead tonight, but we know that the rally is not over, and we need to try to repeat this performance tomorrow.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a very competitive day for us, with three of the six fastest times. We’re in a great place with the car, which was performing really well back on gravel, and it’s nice to see the results of the team’s hard work. It’s a shame we lost 30 seconds with a delamination that led to a puncture, but I want to focus on the positives. It’s a long game, and we’re still in the fight for the win.”

Dani Sordo

“It was not my best day today; it was disappointing to pick up a puncture on the second stage and lose some time. After that, I struggled for confidence, but we managed to regain a few positions and avoid being first on the road tomorrow. If this had happened on Saturday, it would have been much more difficult for us to recover a good result, and we’re in a position to have a much better day tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“It was clear that today would be difficult as a team with the amount of loose gravel on the road. At least I had the best start position within the team, and I tried to use that as much as I could. In some sections we still saw the guys starting behind us could be quite a bit quicker, but overall, I think we can be happy. We had a good rhythm and stayed out of trouble on stages that were very abrasive for the tyres. So far it’s going to plan, but we need to keep it going the same way.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been quite a clean day overall for us. We tried our best to manage the tyres, and unfortunately we did pick up some damage a couple of times, but we know that this can happen in this kind of very extreme conditions. To be P6 overall tonight is quite good considering that we were second on the road. Of course, it could be better, but it could also be worse. Realistically I think we can still aim to catch the two cars in front of us tomorrow and otherwise try to stay away from problems, because anything can still happen in a rough rally like this.”

Elfyn Evans

“We knew that today was going to be tough in our position opening the road, but it turned out to be even tougher than we had expected. The cleaning effect on some of the stages today was really extreme. It’s very dry this year and we’ve started the rally with some rockier and more abrasive stages compared to last year, and the impact of that for us has been clear. We just have to keep trying tomorrow, which I’m sure will be another tough day to challenge everyone.”

Sami Pajari

“We had some nice stages during the morning loop, and I think that our pace was quite decent considering our road position. I felt that we were doing quite an OK job while trying to avoid any issues, but unfortunately the issues still came our way and in total we lost around two minutes. It means we are realistically out of the fight for the win, but there’s still two long days to go. Anything can happen and we just need to keep going.”

Oliver Solberg

“Today has been tougher than expected. To have the puncture in the first stage this morning was unfortunate, and after that we were just trying to stay out of trouble really. Then in the last stage of the day I got too wide in a right-hander and just got beached on the edge of the road, and when I tried to reverse I damaged the gearbox and ended up being stuck. It’s very frustrating, especially as we had not been pushing after what happened earlier. It’s been a tough run lately and we need to understand it and improve and keep our heads up.”

 

Saturday

The stages on the second day of the rally will see the crews five stages, two of which are only run once. It will be a challenging day indeed!

After a good break since Rally Japan at the end of May, the teams come together for the first of many gravel rounds from now to the end of the year. Elfyn and Scott come to this event as the championship leaders with a twenty-point lead over Takamoto and Aaron, whilst the most likely championship challengers, Oliver and Elliott, plus Seb and Vincent are a further fifty-five and sixty-one points further back respectively.

 

In terms of the best placed Hyundai crews is the French duo of Adrien and Alex who have eighty-nine points and lie in sixth position. They might have the best road position as well throughout Friday’s stages and the Hyundai teams car has shown pace on gravel.

 

In terms of the stages, this years rally has 323 kilometres over seventeen stages. The longest day in regard of the number of competitive kilometres is Friday with 130 kilometres over six stages. Then Saturday has six stages over 109 kilometres with two of the stages only run once. Finally, Sunday has four stages over 84 kilometres, which includes the longest stage of the whole weekend.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“To win Rally Japan again was amazing and it rounded off what’s been quite a good first half of the year for us, but we know that the second half can be tough with every rally being on gravel, so everything is still very open in the championship. Greece can be one of the more difficult rallies to open the road, particularly with most of the Friday stages being run only once. But we’ve got some good experience now of being in this position, and we’ve been working hard together with the team to try and improve the feeling and the pace for those conditions. We already made a step forward in Portugal, and we’ll be trying to make the best of the situation again in Greece.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“The Acropolis Rally is a really rough and tough rally for the cars, the tyres and us as crews. Last year, when the rally moved back to the summer, was especially demanding for everyone with the heat. This year the conditions could be similar, so being as fit and prepared as possible is one of the main priorities in the lead up to this rally. It has not been the easiest event for me in the past but working together with the team I have started to find better feeling and pace on these rougher rallies, and I will try my best like always to get a good result.”

Oliver Solberg

“We’ve had some tough results on asphalt recently, but I’m looking forward to putting that behind me and focusing on gravel for the rest of the season, with an exciting mix of rallies coming up. We had a good result in Portugal, finishing second, and hopefully we can build on that in Greece. The Acropolis is a very demanding rally; it’s usually very hot and very rough. It’s another rally we won last year in the Rally2 car, but I’ve never driven it with a Rally1 car before. So, there will be some adapting to do once again, but I will be giving it my best shot like always.”

Sami Pajari

“We have been on a really strong run recently and hopefully we can continue this now that we are going back onto gravel, which is perhaps a more natural surface for me than asphalt anyway. Our performance on gravel in Portugal was really good – one of our best so far – even though we didn’t get a reward for it. The Acropolis is a tough rally, but I’ve done quite well there before – I finished P4 with the Rally2 car two years ago and started with good pace last year until we had to stop with a problem. If we can have a clean run this time, I think we can do well.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m really looking forward to Acropolis Rally and the return to gravel. At this event, we’re really trying to avoid any punctures, but also reading the grip and the compressions, with bumps and crests threatening to kick the car off in a different direction. Starting later in the running order will help you with cleaner lines when it’s dry, which is a clear advantage compared to the cars in front cleaning the road and improving the conditions, however there is also more tyre wear and the risk of loose rocks. Our target for the second half of the season is to get some victories to be back on track for the championship fight. Last year we finished third here, which was good, but we can do better. It’s been quite a tough first half of the season due to the amount of tarmac events, where we struggled a bit more, but we are in a good position to be very competitive for the rest of the season.”

Thierry Neuville

“We have a good starting order heading into a run of gravel events, where we know we can be competitive – we proved that last year and in the past. That gives me a real boost of motivation, knowing we’re heading into a rally where we should perform well. There are other factors at play too, like tyre choice and so on, but generally this should be a much more competitive weekend for us. We know what to expect from this event, though these are new roads. Temperature and weather can be tricky here, so while you can build on what you know, you still need to stay sharp. We’re driving in a slightly different area and region, so you can hit stages with sharper stones, looser or more abrasive surfaces, and everything can change quickly. Our goal is clear — we’re going for victory. With our starting order, a competitive car, and a rally where we have always performed well, that is absolutely our target.

Dani Sordo

“Greece is a rally that I love. The stages are brutal with the heat, the rocks and uneven surfaces, but this sort of challenge suits our car and approach as a team. You have to be patient and manage your tyres, because one mistake can cost you everything. We’ve had some great results at Acropolis in the past, particularly in 2022 and 2024, so I come here with a lot of confidence. Now I want to go one better. The target is always the same: bring the car home, help the team in the manufacturers’ fight, and if we can fight for the win, we will. Portugal did not end the way we hoped, so we are looking to put that right next weekend.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Acropolis is always a tough event. We have a decent road position, so there could be opportunities if we stay out of trouble. It’s nice to turn to gravel again for the remainder of the WRC season!

“It will be a quick turnaround from Donegal, and with plenty of new stages the focus is on a good recce and being well prepared. Hopefully we can put everything together and have a solid weekend for the team.”

Jon Armstrong

“We’re really looking forward to Greece. It’s going to be a significant challenge with the temperatures we’re expecting, and there are a lot of single-pass stages, so having a strong recce will be important. It’s definitely one of the toughest events in rallying.

“If we can take a steady approach, focus on ourselves, and do a good job, then it should be a positive event for us. The boat journey on Thursday night should be good fun as well, so we’re looking forward to something a little different and to getting back onto the gravel after Japan.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m really excited to take on the Acropolis Rally again. Last year was my first time competing there, and there were a lot of things that were completely new to us. We had to learn the rally as we went, and unfortunately a few things didn’t go our way.

“This year will be interesting as the rally features some new stages and takes us to a different part of Greece. It will be great to explore the country again while tackling another demanding event. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Greece, our homeland, is at the heart of our 2026 programme. We are currently leading the national championship after two rallies, but now our focus turns to the Acropolis Rally, one of the highlights of the WRC season.

“We are back with our M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 car, ready to compete against the world’s best gravel rally drivers. Our goal is to enjoy this demanding event, achieve the best possible result, and continue our fight for the Greek Cup awarded to the highest-placed national driver.

“This year’s event features several new stages, adding an extra level of difficulty. But we enjoy a challenge!”

Romet Jürgenson

“I’m looking forward to heading back to Greece, where we secured the Junior title in 2024. It’s one of those very demanding rallies where you have to think about a lot of factors that maybe aren’t such a big focus at other events.

“Hydration is really important, and you need to keep yourself in good condition to get through three tough days. The same applies to the car and the tyres – you have to manage them carefully and can’t always push at 100 per cent on every stage, otherwise problems can quickly arise.

“Overall, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s always a very enjoyable rally.”

Summary

This is going to be a very challenging three days for the crews and with very likely dry conditions throughout the weekend, it will make the challenge greatest for the championship leaders, Elfyn and Scott. It’s fair to say that the top three into the stages on the first day will likely have the worst of the road conditions as the top level of gravel gets swept from the road and creating the lines for the crews further back.

There will be crews who don’t complete every stage and therefore those who do will likely have that consistent run on everyday meaning they could take a really good result.

The action gets underway with shakedown on Thursday morning (25 June 2026) at one minute past nine  UK time and then the first stage, a short super special later in the day at a little after five pm.