Relive the second day of the Acropolis Rally with live commentary

After an already very trying first day, Hyundai is in a good position since its three drivers are in the first three places of the rally, Ott Tänak leading the dance in front of Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville. Handicapped at the end of the day by mechanical problems, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) is in fourth place, 1'41" behind the championship leader.

> You can follow the live evolution of the ranking via the official WRC Live Timing, available here.

Saturday September 7 (116,23 km)
07h16 – ES7 : Rengini – 28,67 km – Thierry Neuville
09h37 – ES8 : Thiva – 20,95 km – Sébastien Ogier
12h05 – ES9 : Aghii Theodori 1 – 25,87 km – Sébastien Ogier
14h46 – ES10 : Loutraki – 12,90 km – Ott Tänak
16h05 – ES11 : Aghii Theodori 2 – 25,87 km – Sébastien Ogier
20h05 – ES12 : EKO SSS – 1,97 km – Thierry Neuville

Acropolis Rally (Greece)
Relive the second day with live commentary

20h49 - Thank you for following us on AUTOhebdo.fr, we'll see you tomorrow at 7:59 for SS13 and the start of Sunday!

20h45 - And the general classification:

20h44 - To end this Saturday, the provisional classification of the special!

20h43 - Yohan Rossel crossed the finish line five tenths behind Virves, so the top 3 remains unchanged in WRC2, Pajari 27″8 ahead of Virves, who is 26″4 ahead of Rossel.

20h34 - Sami Pajari crossed the line four tenths behind Virves, but above all he retained the lead in the WRC2 category this evening, and a place in the top 5 overall.

20h30 - The first WRC2 driver to finish, Robert Virves, managed to finish ahead Adrien fourmaux, five seconds from Neuville!

20h26 - The Estonian concedes 2″8 on his teammate Thierry Neuville, who therefore wins this SS12!

20h24 - It's Ott Tänak who closes the ball on the Rally1 side this evening!

20h23 - 2″2 behind the Spaniard at the finish.

20h21 - Start of the special for Dani Sordo.

20:20 p.m. – The Belgian finishes, and so it is he who will score the 18 points of Saturday, if he finishes the rally tomorrow! He also takes the best time of the special, with a lead of four tenths.

20h18 - It was Thierry Neuville's turn to leave, while Ogier explained that he had fun and had a good day behind the wheel!

20:17 p.m. – Best time with a 2″2 lead for the Frenchman!

20h15 - Sébastien Ogier sets off to attack a fifth scratch today.

20h14 - 6″7 behind the local of the stage, Serderidis.

20h13 - 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "It was a long day being second every time on the stages. They were magnificent stages, that's what gives a little balm to the heart."

20h12 - Jourdan Serderidis' turn to take the plunge.

20h11 - 3″4 late on arrival for the Northerner, the majority of his lost time undoubtedly comes from his missed start.

20h09 - After stalling while setting off, Adrien Fourmaux is well on his way on this special stage laid out on a motorway slip road!

20h07 - 1'47″2 at the finish for the Japanese.

20h05 - 🟢 Takamoto Katsuta launches the assault on the superspecial, in which Elfyn Evans will not participate, having retired following his roll on SS11.

17h28 - The last special will take place at 20:05 p.m., 1,97 km of asphalt on a motorway slip road where the organisers predict a great atmosphere with many fans!

17h06 - The ranking of this eleventh special, and the provisional general of this Rally of Greece!

General:

17h05 - In WRC2, Yohan Rossel wins a new special, he comes back to 27 seconds from Robert Virves in the fight for second place overall.

16h52 - Only 0 seconds behind Tänak at the finish, but it's another special victory for Sébastien Ogier!

16h50 - Ott Tänak had a lucky escape, nearly rolling over in the same place as Elfyn Evans!

16h49 - 18 seconds behind Dani Sordo at the finish, but the Spanish driver remains ahead of Sébastien Ogier in the general classification.

16h45 - 💬 Thierry Neuville: "Incredible day so far, and it's not over yet! We've been following the plan so far, optimizing every situation that comes our way, and so far it's working well, that's the only thing we can do."

16h44 - Thierry Neuville finished 5″5 behind Sébastien Ogier, the Belgian only has one more superspecial to complete to pocket the 18 points for the day on Saturday… if he finishes the rally well tomorrow!

16h42 - 💬 Elfyn Evans: "I hit the inside which was very hollow and it sent me into a very slow barrel roll. I hope to be able to continue but I don't know what the damage is."

16h41 - 5'07″1 behind Evans, logically, after his barrel roll, we see a lot of damage to the hood and roof of the Toyota.

16:40 p.m. – Best time for Sébastien Ogier, 10″9 ahead of Takamoto Katsuta!

16h37 - After Sébastien Ogier had passed, the other Toyota was able to continue its journey.

16h36 - Evans fails to get going again, his slim chances of scoring a point or more today evaporate for good!

16h34 - 💥 Elfyn Evans is stopped at the 17th kilometer after rolling in a hairpin! The Welshman and his co-driver Scott Martin were able to be put back on their wheels by spectators.

16h33 - 1'44″8 delay for Jourdan Serderidis at the finish of the special.

16h28 - Adrien Fourmaux crossed the line 4″5 behind Katsuta, the Frenchman's left rear tire was flat, but still had a little air! "At least I had a flat tire on this rally", he commented at the stop point.

16h24 - 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "It's quite brittle, but not as much as I expected. It doesn't make it easy to choose the right lines, but you have to deal with it!"

16h23 - 17'59″9 for the Japanese who is the first to cross the finish line, while Sébastien Ogier is off.

16h21 - Three kilometers to go for Takamoto Katsuta!

16h18 - After Jourdan Serderidis, it is Eflyn Evans' turn to take part in this tenth timed section. Now thirteenth overall, he will have to count on a few retirements ahead of him to score points at the end of this Saturday.

16h17 - The heat is still stifling on this Rally of Greece, 33°C in the air, and probably between 55 and 60 in the cockpits! Katsuta has started the downhill portion of the special.

16h10 - While Adrien Fourmaux also entered the special, we can see that the terrain is more marked than during the passage of this afternoon, the special could be very rough. Michèle Mouton, FIA safety delegate, confirmed this after her passage in the special as well.

16h05 - 🟢 Takamoto Katsuta is off in this eleventh special of the day, the last on gravel before a superspecial… on a section of highway!

15h38 - Yohan Rossel once again sets the best time in WRC2, he takes 1″8 from Pajari and above all 8″4 from Virves, still second in the rally.

15h30 - The first WRC2 drivers cross the finish line, Sami Pajari takes another 6″6 lead over Robert Virves.

15h27 - Thierry Neuville now has a 40-second lead in the general classification over his teammate Dani Sordo.

15:25 p.m. – It is finally Ott Tänak who sets the best time of the special, 2″4 ahead of Sébastien Ogier!

15h21 - Only 4″9 lost for Dani Sordo, with almost no bodywork on the right rear! The Spaniard pays tribute to his mechanics, "the best in the world" according to him!

15h18 - 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I didn't take any risks, I just tried to follow the tracks. It's really a very technical stage with very twisty and slippery places. But as you go along the cracks form and that helps to keep the car on the right track."

15h17 - Thierry Neuville also arrives at the finish line, and he is beaten by Ogier by two tenths of a second!

15h13 - 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "I felt the grip was better on this stage than on the previous one, but it's still very tricky."

15:12 p.m. – 7″9 lead for Sébastien Ogier who sets the best time of the special!

15h09 - Fourmaux thought he was going to set a bad time, but he is 1″1 ahead of Elfyn Evans who has just crossed the finish line! The Welshman also explains that the track is very slippery on this special.

15h04 - 48″7 behind at the finish for Jourdan Serderidis, on this special which is the shortest of the rally!

15h01 - 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: “We can’t fix the car so I have to continue without the anti-roll bar. We’re sweeping a lot so I don’t expect it to be a good time, but I’m pretty happy with my driving. The car is very slow to go from one corner to the next, so I can’t be as precise as I would like.”

15:00 p.m. – Unsurprisingly, best time for Adrien Fourmaux with a 35″4 lead over Katsuta after the Japanese driver’s error.

14h57 - Takamoto Katsuta explains that the conditions are very slippery, which can obviously explain his spin.

14h56 - 9'52″7 for Katsuta, we can already see a very marked end to the special with some exposed stones, we will have to be careful!

14h51 - ↪️ While Adrien Fourmaux entered the special, Katsuta spun in the first kilometers, without touching anything however.

14h48 - 📺 Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka will not be leaving this afternoon, after their exit on the SS9.

SS9: Munster slid off the road after going wide on a loose section of the stage. ❌@AcropolisRally | @OfficialWRC | @FordPerformance pic.twitter.com/NUOD9UR784

— M-Sport (@MSportLtd) September 7, 2024

14h46 - 🟢 Takamoto Katsuta starts first as he has done since the beginning of the day, let's take the opportunity to discover the provisional general classification:

14h45 - Welcome back, the afternoon is about to start here at the Acropolis Rally! The Loutraki stage (12,90 km) is now waiting for the drivers, it is 33°C in the air, and the chances of a puncture are very high, according to Pirelli data.

13h14 - We meet at 14:46 p.m. for the Loutraki special, the crews now enjoy a stopover to change tires, but no assistance!

13h08 - The provisional classification of the special, before all the passages in WRC2:

12h57 - 6″2 behind Ott Tänak at the finish, Sébastien Ogier takes a second scratch today!

12h54 - Upon arrival, Sordo went out to see for himself the damage, which was very significant.

12h53 - Tire delamination tore off entire right rear section of Hyundai i20 WRC, the rear wing is however not affected, which is the most important for aerodynamics. 51″3 behind at the finish for Sordo, Neuville takes the lead of the rally.

12:50 – Dani Sordo has a rear right puncture! Third puncture of the day for Hyundai, the Spaniard continues but he will lose the lead of the rally!

12h49 - 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I just want to finish the day without any problems, without a puncture. I'm struggling a bit with the rear which doesn't quite stay in line, the conditions are very difficult, I'm trying to avoid the slippery parts as much as possible. This stage will be difficult on the second pass, there are a lot of sharp stones, anything can happen so we'll keep our fingers crossed."

12h48 - Thierry Neuville concedes 5″7 seconds to the eight-time French world champion, but he remains comfortably ahead overall, with a lead of 1'25″2.

12h46 - 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "We continue to do our job as well as we can, and we will see. Without assistance in Greece, it is a very big challenge, for now no problems but we hope it will last until the end of the day."

12:44 p.m. – Sébastien Ogier takes the lead in the special, with a 6″ lead over Evans.

12h38 - 💥 Confirmation for Munster, the Luxembourger went into a ditch after a right turn, the Ford Puma may not be able to start again.

12:37 – Best time for Elfyn Evans, 1″2 ahead of Adrien Fourmaux!

12h34 - 1'40″6 behind Serderidis at the finish.

12h33 - Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka are at a standstill at kilometer 6!

12h29 - The conditions are really demanding today, and Fourmaux also broke his rear anti-roll bar on a previous stage, which doesn't help him, especially on the descents.

12:28 p.m. – “I’m on fire, my feet are burning!” declared Adrien Fourmaux at the finish, but that didn’t stop him from setting the best time, with a 14-second lead!

12h25 - 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: “Yes, it takes a lot of cleaning, but above all I’m very hot in the car, I didn’t necessarily expect that!”

12h24 - 18'35″7 for Takamoto Katsuta at the finish, the Japanese should not keep the lead of the special for long, while Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka have entered the special.

12h18 - Elfyn Evans sets off, he is still fifteenth overall for the moment.

12h15 - Adrien Fourmaux started his special well, with a 6″7 lead over Katsuta at the third intermediate point.

12h13 - The local Jourdan Serderidis has left!

12h09 - Adrien Fourmaux also sets off, in one of the choice sections of this Acropolis Rally, which risks being extremely tough in the second passage this afternoon especially.

12h05 - 🟢 Here we go for the ninth special stage of the rally, the first passage in Aghii Theodori, Takamoto Katsuta is in the special stage!

10h47 - We meet at 12:05 for SS9, the first of two passages of the day in Aghii Theodori!

10h39 - Update on the special rankings and the general ranking after eight specials:

10:38 – Yohan Rossel takes the best time in WRC2, with a 10-second lead over Virves! He moves up to third place overall.

10h28 - 15'31″3 for Robert Virves, first WRC2 representative to cross the finish line.

10h26 - 14″1 behind Ott Tänak at the finish on Sébastien Ogier who therefore wins this special. The Estonian logically does not pick up any pace since he no longer has any spare tires, his objective is simply to reach the zone where the drivers can take on Pirelli tires, after the next special.

10h22 - Dani Sordo concedes 7″4 to Sébastien Ogier, but he takes back three seconds from his teammate Thierry Neuville. All this with a bandage over his right eye, because he hit it when getting into his car before the special after making adjustments!

10h19 - 💬 Thierry Neuville: "We have hard tyres, it's the safest choice. I'm not taking any risks, and I prefer to drive the car today than yesterday, we made good set-up changes."

10h18 - Thierry Neuville concedes 10″5 on Sébastien Ogier, but the gap in the general standings remains above a minute.

10h14 - 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "It's not nice to drive on this stage, there's sand everywhere, it's like being on the beach! It's very difficult to get the car to turn."

10:14 – Sébastien Ogier takes the best time, with a lead of 12″8!

10h10 - 1″1 behind at the finish for Grégoire Munster, while Ott Tänak has just started the special.

10h06 - 💬 Elfyn Evans: "There's a line starting to form but it's difficult to really find the grip and get the car turning, the surface is very soft."

10:05 – Best time for Elfyn Evans, 3″5 ahead of Fourmaux!

10h02 - 1'18″5 delay at the finish for Jourdan Serderidis while Thierry Neuville enters the special.

09h58 - Sébastien Ogier also sets off to attack the special stage.

09h57 - 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "I was looking for the sea because there is so much sand that I think I am riding on a beach! The sand is very deep so it is difficult to get grip, it is very slippery."

09:56 – 3″1 lead at the finish for Adrien Fourmaux who takes the best time!

09h54 - Grégoire Munster sets off on the special, he who is currently seventh overall.

09h53 - The Japanese explains that he has to clean a lot, and that the surface is a little more sandy than on the first special.

09h53 - 15'13″3 for Takamoto Katsuta, the first driver to finish this special.

09h50 - Elfyn Evans is also on the move, having already gained five positions in the general classification since the start of the day, but Saturday's points will be almost impossible to get for the Welshman, 15th overall.

09h46 - Jourdan Serderidis is also in the special, while Adrien Fourmaux is currently 2″8 behind Katsuta at the first checkpoint.

09h41 - Adrien Fourmaux also takes part in the special.

09:37 – 🟢 The second special of the day is underway, Takamoto Katsuta is taking on the 20,95 km of the Thiva special.

08h25 - Quick update on the general classification, only seven seconds between Sordo and Neuville:

08h21 - The ranking of this seventh special of the rally, we find ourselves at 9:37 for SS8, the 20,95 km of Thiva!

08h13 - Sami Pajari takes 13″6 from Robert Virves, and he takes the lead in WRC2!

08h12 - 💬 Ott Tänak: "We had to change two punctures. On the first one, the tire was no longer on the rim, and on the second one I had a bent rim."

08h11 - Robert Virves was the first of the WRC2 drivers to finish, followed a few seconds later by Ott Tänak, who lost 4'06"4 to his team-mate Thierry Neuville!

08h05 - Tänak is now behind his compatriot Robert Virves, leader of WRC2, he is starting to be in the dust raised by the Skoda.

08h04 - 💬 Dani Sordo: "It's good to lead the rally, but I don't like doing it like that, we have to take the lead in the special, not on the problems of the others! I have a mission, it's to finish, so the others can attack, for me it's not my goal. It would be incredible to win, but it's not the objective."

08h03 - Dani Sordo finished, 16″2 behind Neuville, more than half of his lead was gone in this first special! But the Spaniard would take the lead in the general classification following Tänak's setbacks.

08:02 – And Ott Tänak stops again! Second puncture, this time on the front right!

08:01 – 💬 Thierry Neuville: "It was a good passage, we had to take fewer risks in the middle section, which was very violent in terms of stones. I was able to change settings on the car and I feel much more comfortable."

08h00 - Tänak stopped for 1'21" to change his puncture, very good work from the Estonian rider and his co-rider Martin Järveoja!

07:59 – Best time by a whisker for Thierry Neuville, 0″2 ahead of Ogier!

07h56 - 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "We are in no man's land, so I try to ride as fast as possible, but take fewer risks in the more difficult sections. It's a shame for Tänak, I don't like that... I like Ott!"

07:55 – Sébastien Ogier finishes with the best time, 21″3 ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans!

07h55 - The rally leader is back!

07:54 – Ott Tänak is stopped between the first two intermediates, right at the start of the special! The Hyundai crew seems to have a puncture on the rear right and has to change it!

07h53 - 💬 Grégoire Munster: "I thought I had a very bad special, there was good and very bad. Also, with all the stones, it's easy to have a puncture like yesterday, so you have to be careful."

07h52 - Good performance from Grégoire Munster who finished two seconds behind Evans.

07h51 - Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak are in the special, so all the Rally1s have started!

07:47 – Best time for Elfyn Evans, 5″6 ahead of Adrien Fourmaux!

07h45 - Jourdan Serderidis finishes, the local concedes 1'53″9 at the finish.

07h42 - It's off to the championship leader, Thierry Neuville!

07h40 - 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "It's difficult, the motivation is no longer there, but I'm lucky to drive a Rally1, so I still want to enjoy this day. It's still frustrating because there's nothing at stake, there's a lot to lose, but nothing to gain."

07h39 - 14″7 ahead of Adrien Fourmaux at the finish on Katsuta, the Frenchman from M-Sport takes the provisional lead of the special.

07h38 - Sébastien Ogier sets off. The Frenchman is more than a minute behind the podium, following his turbo problems encountered at the end of the day yesterday.

07h35 - 🏁18'33″1 for Takamoto Katsuta, first rider to arrive. The Japanese is expecting a day “difficult, because there is already much more gravel on the road than yesterday!”

07h34 - Please note that this second day of the weekend is special, since there will be no passage through the service park! We could witness a real marathon…

07h33 - Seventh overall, Grégoire Munster sets off on the special.

07h31 - Katsuta is now less than eight kilometres from the finish, in the fastest sections. It could be a difficult day for the Japanese, the impact of the sweep seems significant today, and four of the six stages will only be run once. His team-mate Elfyn Evans is also in the stage.

07h25 - After having conceded 1″5 at the first intermediate, Adrien Fourmaux takes the advantage over Takamoto Katsuta, with a 1″1 lead at the second timed point. Jourdan Serderidis has started the special.

07h20 - This special begins with several hairpins, before a faster central section and end. Adrien Fourmaux also takes part in the special, he who was unable to finish yesterday.

07h16 - 🟢 It's off to Takamoto Katsuta, who is the first to take on the Rengini special, and its 28,67 kilometers!

07h10 - Hello everyone and welcome to this live commentary of the second day of the Acropolis Rally!