Thierry Neuville scored a first win of the season as he led home Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo to score Hyundai’s best ever result in the WRC at one of the championship’s toughest gravel events.
Neuville ultimately took the win by 15.0s from Tanak after Hyundai enforced team orders to its drivers to hold position despite Tanak being better placed in the title race.
Although disappointed to miss out on a win to maximise his title hopes, Tanak closed to within 53 points of championship leader Kalle Rovanpera, who struggled on the rough gravel. The Finn was more than 17 minutes adrift after losing time to opening the roads on Friday, before damaging his GR Yaris after sideswiping a tree on Saturday.
M-Sport-Ford appeared on course to challenge for victory after dominating Friday, with returning drivers nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb and Pierre-Louis Loubet. Loeb led until Saturday when the alternator failed on his Ford Puma.
Loubet eventually finished fourth to equal his career best finish after recovering from puncture that robbed him of a podium shot, having briefly led the rally on Friday. The 25-year-old also netted his first career stage wins.
Podcast host Martyn Lee is joined by Autosport WRC reporter Tom Howard to dissect all the key moments and stories from an eventful Acropolis.
The pair discuss Hyundai’s controversial decision to deploy team orders, while rally winner Neuville and Hyundai deputy team director Julien Moncet share their thoughts after the team’s historic result.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or via all good audio platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
