OGIER CLOSES TO JUST 4.1 SECONDS FROM ACROPOLIS RALLY GREECE LEAD

TOYOTA DRIVER SETS UP FINAL-DAY BATTLE AFTER STRONG SATURDAY PERFORMANCE

Sébastien Ogier heads into the final day of Acropolis Rally Greece just 4.1 seconds behind the overall leader after another impressive performance for Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team on Saturday.

The penultimate leg featured demanding gravel stages on the Peloponnesian peninsula west of the Loutraki service park. Competitors faced a mixture of new roads and stages not seen in the FIA World Rally Championship since 2013, with the opening loop covering more than 74 competitive kilometres on a single set of tyres before rougher afternoon conditions.

Ogier started the day 9.7 seconds behind rally leader Thierry Neuville but quickly reduced the deficit by winning the opening and fourth stages of the morning loop. By the midday service, the Frenchman had cut the gap to just 3.7 seconds.

Neuville extended his advantage during the afternoon's second pass through Ghymno, but Ogier responded immediately by claiming the fastest time on the final Menalo Mountain stage to finish the day only 4.1 seconds adrift heading into Sunday's deciding stages.

Takamoto Katsuta also enjoyed a productive Saturday, climbing from sixth to third overall. The Japanese driver combined consistent pace with a trouble-free run to secure an overnight podium position for Toyota.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans recovered well after the disadvantage of opening the road on Friday. Moving from seventh to fifth overall, Evans was challenging for fourth before suffering a puncture on the day's final stage. The unscheduled wheel change dropped him back to seventh.

Sami Pajari inherited sixth position after Evans' delay. Having also lost time to a wheel change on Friday, Pajari ended Saturday 4.8 seconds ahead of his teammate.

Oliver Solberg returned under restart regulations following his retirement on Friday and completed a clean day to finish 21st overall.

In WRC2, TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto continued to deliver competitive stage times, climbing into 10th place in the category.

With just 4.1 seconds separating Ogier from the rally lead, Sunday's final stages promise an intense battle for victory in one of the FIA World Rally Championship's toughest events.

KEY POINTS

• Sébastien Ogier reduced the rally lead to just 4.1 seconds before the final day.

• Ogier claimed two stage wins on Saturday.

• Takamoto Katsuta climbed from sixth to third overall.

• Elfyn Evans lost ground after a puncture on the final stage.

• Sami Pajari moved into sixth position.

• Oliver Solberg completed a clean restart day after Friday's retirement.

• Yuki Yamamoto climbed to 10th in the WRC2 standings.

• Sunday will decide the winner of Acropolis Rally Greece.

Quotes:

Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)

“It has been a good Saturday for our team. It was another rough and abrasive day for the tyres, but Seb did a very good job once again. Neuville has been very fast too, so we should have a good fight to watch between them tomorrow. It’s been another really good performance from Taka to get up to third, and Elfyn could have been up there in the top four with him as well until they had to change the tyre, but that’s often how it goes on this rally. Tomorrow we’ll have Seb fighting for the win and others chasing Sunday points, and as a team we’ll try to take as many as we can.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)

“The day was going pretty well; we were enjoying the cleaner roads, we had a good rhythm and we were climbing up the leaderboard. Unfortunately in the last stage we picked up a puncture. It came quite suddenly after an impact and we had to stop and change it. It’s dropped us right back to where we started the day so we’ve got it all to do again tomorrow, and of course the road position will not be any easier either, but we’ll fight for what we can.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)

“I think it’s been a good day for us. In places these roads were nice to drive, and in others it was just about trying to survive the roughness. In this last stage I was planning to push, and then seeing how many others were having trouble in there made me more unsure, but we managed to have a decent rhythm and keep the fight open until tomorrow. I’m happy with what we’ve done so far but the most important day is coming, where we need to secure the best result and extra points are also available. I will keep the same approach and we’ll see what happens.”

Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)

“After the disappointment of what happened yesterday, today was all about trying to find the feeling again and rebuild the confidence. Of course, it was going to be difficult to do anything special from the start position we had, but at least we could drive cleanly through the day. Tomorrow I’m sure there will still be a lot of road cleaning, but we will try our best and see if we can take a few points.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)

“This morning the first target was to catch the two cars in front of us and we did that in two stages. After that it was just about managing the high risk of punctures, and I think we did quite a good job to get through the day without any problems. It’s nice to be in third overall tonight but tomorrow’s stages are maybe even rougher than today, so anything can still happen and the main focus will be to finish without problems.”

Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)

“I think there was not so much more that we could have done today. On some stages we had quite solid pace, on others maybe not, but I think this was mainly down to the conditions because our road position was not great after yesterday’s troubles. We were able to gain a few places after issues for other drivers, and that also makes our road position better, so I think that gives us a chance to try and take a few more points tomorrow.”

End of day three (Saturday):

1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 2h40m18.7s

2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +4.1s

3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +2m17.0s

4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m00.6s

5 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m01.6s

6 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +4m38.3s

7 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +4m43.1s

8 Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m17.8s

9 Andreas Mikkelsen/Jørn Listerud (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +5m54.6s

10 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +6m08.5s

21 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +14m25.4s

What's next?

The last day takes place in the hills above the Loutraki service park, with a pair of stages run twice either side of final service. While familiar in name from recent years, both tests are significantly revised: Aghii Theodori runs in a form last seen in 2013 while Loutraki features a new finish and will host the rally-ending Power Stage on its second pass.