NEUVILLE LEADS ACROPOLIS RALLY AFTER COMMANDING OPENING DAY

HYUNDAI STAR HOLDS 9.7-SECOND ADVANTAGE AS FOURMAUX RECOVERS TO THIRD

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe ended Friday at the top of the Acropolis Rally leaderboard after a strong performance on the opening full day of competition in Greece.

The revised Acropolis Rally route, following its move to southern Greece, featured six demanding gravel stages with a combination of new and familiar roads. Only the Stiri stage was run twice, while Bauxites, Parnassos Mt, Elikon Mt and Thiva each appeared once on Friday's itinerary.

Hyundai Motorsport made an impressive start by securing a 1-2 finish on the opening stage of the day. Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria claimed the stage victory, but Neuville's overnight advantage from Thursday's opening stage allowed the Belgian crew to move into the overall lead.

https://youtu.be/QYU3gd7aoM8

Fourmaux continued his strong pace by winning SS3, finishing 1.2 seconds ahead of Neuville, as the Hyundai teammates battled for the lead throughout the morning.

The fight changed on the final stage of the morning loop when Fourmaux suffered a puncture, dropping him to fourth overall and allowing Neuville to extend his advantage to 11 seconds.

Hyundai's difficult day also included a puncture for Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera on SS3 while they were running fourth overall.

Despite the setback, Fourmaux recovered to reclaim third place by the end of Friday, while Neuville heads into Saturday with a 9.7-second lead over Sébastien Ogier.

Quote

"Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe head into Saturday with a 9.7-second lead after a strong opening day on the Acropolis Rally."

Key Points

• Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe lead the Acropolis Rally after Friday.

• Hyundai Motorsport secured a 1-2 finish on the opening stage of the day.

• Adrien Fourmaux won two stages before suffering a puncture.

• Fourmaux dropped to fourth before recovering to third overall.

• Dani Sordo also lost time after suffering a puncture on SS3.

• The revised Acropolis Rally route featured six demanding gravel stages.

• Neuville holds a 9.7-second advantage over Sébastien Ogier heading into Saturday.

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

The Belgians capitalised on a favourable road position to unleash the full force of their Hyundai i20 N Rally1, quickly moving into the lead of the rally on Friday’s first stage

The Belgians maintained their rhythm throughout the day, taking a clean sweep of top-three stage times and a stage win on SS6 to end the day with a 9.7-second gap to the next car

Neuville said: “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.”

Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

Fourmaux and Coria began Friday with a strong performance, claiming back-to-back stage wins on SS2 and SS3 to snatch the lead of the event from their team-mates

A puncture on SS4 dropped the Frenchmen to fourth heading into remote service, yet the crew came back fighting with two top-five stage times and a third stage victory to end the day third

Fourmaux said: “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.”

Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

Sordo and Carrera made a solid start to Friday, sitting in fourth after SS2, before an unfortunate puncture on SS3

While their puncture cost the crew nearly two minutes to the rally leader, they ended their day with a top-five stage time and eighth overall

Sordo said: “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.”

Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley said: “It has been an excellent day here in Greece, with all three of our crews performing strongly. We faced some challenges with the tyres, like every competitor, but our drivers responded positively to put us in a competitive position heading into tomorrow. The battle at the front is almost the same as it was last year, with two of our crews in the provisional podium positions and fighting at the front of the field. We’re looking forward to building on this momentum on Saturday.”

Saturday at a Glance

Six stages make up Saturday’s itinerary, covering 108.69km of competitive distance with a midday service

A mammoth morning features four stages: Ghymno (SS8/12, 19.60km), Kolines (SS9, 21.30km), Menalo Mt (SS10/13, 15.01km) and Kefalari (SS11, 18.17km), with Ghymno and Menalo Mt repeated in the afternoon.