Hyundai Motorsport is celebrating a fantastic 1-2-3 result at Acropolis Rally, where Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe scored their second victory of the season to extend their advantage in the championship standings.
Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera and Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja joined the Belgian Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew on the podium in second and third place following a crash for Sébastien Ogier on the final stage. The result matches the team’s first-ever 1-2-3 finish at the same event in 2022.
Three stages were contested on Super Sunday in Greece: Inohori (SS13, 17.47km), a completely new test ran only once, and Eleftherohori (SS14/15, 18.29km). Heavy overnight rain and thunderstorms dramatically impacted conditions on the first run of Eleftherohori, with crews battling changing grip levels and unpredictable muddy sections that later dried out for the Power Stage.
Neuville conquered the Rally of the Gods with a measured approach across all 15 tricky and treacherous stages. The Belgian claimed the lead of the rally on SS9 on Saturday after both his team-mates hit trouble with punctures, carefully navigating the remaining stages to remain in first at the end of Saturday and secure 18 points. This continued on Sunday, where the Belgian’s canny drive saw him finish fourth in both the Super Sunday and Power Stage standings and secure his hard-earned win. Neuville and Wydaeghe have extended their advantage in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings to 34 points with three events remaining.
Sordo’s Sunday mission was to safely navigate the remaining three stages to confirm 15 points for finishing second on Saturday. While the Spaniard dropped a position to Ogier on the opening stage, he remained focused on bringing the car home in third. Ogier’s incident on the Power Stage then promoted Sordo back to second. Sordo was also awarded two additional points in the Super Sunday scores.
After a frustrating opening stage on Saturday saw Tänak and Järveoja drop from first to fourth, Sunday was all about scoring as many points on offer. While nursing a misfiring engine, the Estonian crew claimed two top-three stage times to sit second in the Super Sunday fight with just the Power Stage remaining.
Expecting to finish fourth, the Estonians focused on a strong final push; second place netted them four additional points. However, the story of Acropolis was not over yet: Ogier’s accident meant Tänak inherited both the lead of the Super Sunday standings and third place. As a result, Tänak has moved up into second place in the drivers’ standings behind team-mate Neuville.
As well as now occupying first and second in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship, Hyundai Motorsport departs Greece with a 35-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings.
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Second Acropolis Rally victory for crew
- Belgians led rally from SS9 on Saturday and took three stage wins
Neuville said: “It’s unbelievable. It has been a crazy weekend. Ever since the recce, I was concerned about the roughness of the rally; I knew that we needed a different approach than some of the other drivers to try to keep the advantage we have in the championship for the remaining rounds. That objective and target has been the best, and paid off with victory and a good team result as well. We were not driving on the limit all weekend long to avoid any punctures and moments, and we kept all four wheels on the road. Now we have a good lead, the story will be to protect those points in the last three rounds.”
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Spaniards finish second with careful drive on final day
- Sordo takes home 17 well-earned points and second podium of the season
Sordo said: “At this moment, I am very happy with what we have achieved here for both myself and the team. It was a complicated rally and I felt we demonstrated our speed on some of the stages, but on others we took it carefully to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes or get another puncture. Of course, I wanted to show my speed more at times, but I had to be clever and think of the team and the manufacturers’ fight. My dream was to finish like this with all three cars on the podium; for the whole team both here and back at base, this is a really good result for our motivation.”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- 21 points scored in Greece with first in Super Sunday and second in Power Stage
- Estonians move up to second in drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings
Tänak said: “Obviously we were expecting there to be plenty of drama this weekend but in the end this is a great team result. Everyone should definitely be proud of themselves; there was so much happening around us so to bring home a 1-2-3 is a fantastic finish to the weekend. It is a shame we lost positions on Saturday morning, so we don’t know what could have been, but this is one of the toughest rallies and to come out on top is great for the entire team.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Two years after locking out the podium at Acropolis Rally, we do it again today. It is hard to know whether this is a coincidence or a sign of our determination to shine at this event, which is a true test for the crews, the team and the car. It has not been a perfect weekend. We had to face a number of challenges, including punctures that frustrated our very strong result from Friday. Yet we remained focused, kept our head down, and played the long game. We weren’t too greedy, and once again our balanced strategy played out very nicely for us. It is a true team effort to have this full Hyundai Motorsport podium; it obviously extends our lead in the standings, however, championships are one thing and the emotions of a win like this one are something else, so for now that is what we celebrate tonight and back at the factory later this week. “
Next rally
- Rally Chile will mark the final gravel event of the 2024 FIA WRC season taking place September 26-29
- Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm will return to the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid to contest the Concepción-based rally
Final Overall Classification – Acropolis Rally
| 1 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | 3:38:04.2 |
| 2 | D. Sordo | C. Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +1:46.8 |
| 3 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +2:57.3 |
| 4 | S. Pajari | E. Mälkönen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +7:01.1 |
| 5 | R. Virves | A. Lesk | Škoda Fabia RS | +7:01.1 |
| 6 | Y. Rossel | F. Barral | Citroën C3 | +7:31.9 |
| 7 | K. Kajetanovicz | M. Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia RS | +9:54.0 |
| 8 | F. Zaldivar | M. Der Ohannesian | Škoda Fabia RS | +11:27.9 |
| 9 | J. McErlean | J. Fulton | Škoda Fabia RS | +12:27.2 |
| 10 | R. Daprà | L. Guglielmetti | Škoda Fabia Evo | +13:44.9 |
Super Sunday Classification – Acropolis Rally
| 1 | O. Tänak | 36:37.0 |
| 2 | A. Fourmaux | +12.1 |
| 3 | E. Evans | +21.6 |
| 4 | T. Neuville | +21.9 |
| 5 | T. Katsuta | +45.1 |
| 6 | D. Sordo | +1:05.0 |
| 7 | R. Virves | +1:49.2 |
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10
| 1 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 445 |
| 2 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team | 410 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 226 |
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10
| 1 | T. Neuville | 192 |
| 2 | O. Tänak | 158 |
| 3 | S. Ogier | 154 |
| 4 | E. Evans | 140 |
| 5 | A. Fourmaux | 130 |
| 6 | K. Rovanpera | 86 |
| 7 | T. Katsuta | 80 |
| 8 | D. Sordo | 44 |
| 9 | S. Pajari | 34 |
| 10 | E. Lappi | 33 |