2021 Acropolis Rally
| 2021 Acropolis Rally EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Round 9 of 12 in the 2021 World Rally Championship
| |||
 The Acropolis Rally of Greece returned to the championship after eight years. | |||
| Host country |  Greece | ||
| Rally base | Lamia, Central Greece | ||
| Dates run | 9 – 12 September 2021 | ||
| Start location | Athens, Attica | ||
| Finish location | Lamia, Central Greece | ||
| Stages | 15 (292.19 km; 181.56 miles)[1] | ||
| Stage surface | Gravel | ||
| Transport distance | 993.66 km (617.43 miles) | ||
| Overall distance | 1,253.15 km (778.67 miles) | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Crews registered | 55 | ||
| Crews | 48 at start, 43 at finish | ||
| Overall results | |||
| Overall winner |  Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT3:28:24.6 | ||
| Power Stage winner | Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 8:34.8 | ||
| Support category results | |||
| WRC-2 winner |  Andreas Mikkelsen Elliott Edmondson Toksport WRT3:37:27.1 | ||
| WRC-3 winner |  Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak3:39:48.2 | ||
The 2021 Acropolis Rally (also known as the EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021) was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 9 and 12 September 2021.[2] It marked the sixty-fifth running of the Acropolis Rally. The event was the ninth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The 2021 event was based in the town of Lamia in Central Greece and contested over fifteen special stages totalling 292.19 km (181.56 mi) in competitive distance.[1]
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the reigning rally winners.[3] However, they did not defend their titles as Latvala retired from the competition.[4] Volkswagen Motorsport, the team they drove for in 2013, when Acropolis Rally held a World Rally Championship event last time, were the defending manufacturers' winners, but they did not defend their title neither when Volkswagen retired from the championship at the end of 2016.[5] Robert Kubica and Maciek Baran were the reigning rally winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not defend their titles since Kubica was competing the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.[6]
Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the overall rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturer's winners.[7] In the World Rally Championship-2 category, Andreas Mikkelsen won the class with his new co-driver Elliott Edmondson.[8] In the World Rally Championship-3 category, Yohan Rossel and Alexandre Coria finished first in the class.[9] However, they were disqualified from the results after the rally as the front subframe on their Citroën C3 Rally2 was found to be overweight during the post-event scrutineering. The polish crew of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak subsequently became the WRC-3 winners.[10]
Background
Championship standings prior to the event
Reigning World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with a thirty-eight-point lead, with the crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin and of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe shared second. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a forty-one--point lead over defending manufacturers' champions Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, followed by M-Sport Ford WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene held an eleven-point lead ahead of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with Marco Bulacia Wilkinson and Marcelo Der Ohannesian in third. In the teams' championship, Toksport WRT led Movisport by thirty-seven points, with M-Sport Ford WRT in third.
In the World Rally Championship-3 standings, Yohan Rossel and Alexandre Coria were the championships leaders, followed by Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciek Szczepaniak, with Nicolas Ciamin and Yannick Roche in third.
Entry list
The following crews entered the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3, and privateer entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Eleven entries for the World Rally Championship were received, as were ten in the World Rally Championship-2 and nineteen in the World Rally Championship-3.
| No. | Driver | Co-Driver | Entrant | Car | Tyre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 |  Simos Galatariotis
|
Antonis Ioannou
|
Simos Galatariotis
|
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 | P |
| 58 |  Molly Taylor
|
Sebastian Marshall
|
M-Sport Poland
|
Ford Fiesta Rally3 | P |
| 65 |  Carlo Covi
|
Michela Lorigiola
|
Carlo Covi
|
Peugeot 208 R2 | P |
| Source:[11] | |||||
Route
Itinerary
All dates and times are EET (UTC+3).
| Leg | Date | Time | No. | Stage name | Distance | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 9 September | 08:01 | — | Divri [Shakedown] | 4.32 km | ||||||||||
| 1 | 9 September | 18:08 | SS1 | Cosmote 5G Athens Stage | 0.98 km | ||||||||||
| 10 September | 10:18 | SS2 | Aghii Theodori 1 | 17.54 km | |||||||||||
| 11:11 | SS3 | Loutraki | 19.40 km | ||||||||||||
| 13:24 | SS4 | Aghii Theodori 2 | 17.54 km | ||||||||||||
| 15:47 | SS5 | Thiva | 23.27 km | ||||||||||||
| 17:40 | SS6 | Elatia | 11.65 km | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 11 September | 08:32 | SS7 | Pavliani 1 | 24.25 km | ||||||||||
| 09:57 | SS8 | Gravia | 24.81 km | ||||||||||||
| 11:52 | SS9 | Bauxites | 22.97 km | ||||||||||||
| 13:08 | SS10 | Eleftherochori 1 | 18.14 km | ||||||||||||
| 16:26 | SS11 | Pavliani 2 | 24.25 km | ||||||||||||
| 18:08 | SS12 | Eleftherochori 2 | 18.14 km | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 12 September | 08:25 | SS13 | Tarzan 1 | 23.37 km | ||||||||||
| 10:03 | SS14 | Pyrgos | 33.20 km | ||||||||||||
| 13:18 | SS15 | Tarzan 2 [Power Stage] | 12.68 km | ||||||||||||
| Source:[1] | |||||||||||||||
Report
World Rally Cars
Classification
Special stages
| Day | Stage | Stage name | Length | Winners | Car | Time | Class leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September | — | Divri [Shakedown] | 4.32 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 3:14.3 | — |
| SS1 | Cosmote 5G Athens Stage | 0.98 km | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | 51.5 | Ogier / Ingrassia | |
| 10 September | SS2 | Aghii Theodori 1 | 17.54 km | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 13:15.8 | |
| SS3 | Loutraki | 19.40 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 13:04.4 | Rovanperä / Halttunen | |
| SS4 | Aghii Theodori 2 | 17.54 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 13:10.3 | ||
| SS5 | Thiva | 23.27 km | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | 15:25.2 | ||
| SS6 | Elatia | 11.65 km | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 5:58.1 | ||
| 11 September | SS7 | Pavliani 1 | 24.25 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 19:27.7 | |
| SS8 | Gravia | 24.81 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 20:35.9 | ||
| SS9 | Bauxites | 22.97 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 13:44.3 | ||
| SS10 | Eleftherochori 1 | 18.14 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 11:05.2 | ||
| SS11 | Pavliani 2 | 24.25 km | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | 19:10.6 | ||
| SS12 | Eleftherochori 2 | 18.14 km | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 10:42.0 | ||
| 12 September | SS13 | Tarzan 1 | 23.37 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 17:22.7 | |
| SS14 | Pyrgos | 33.20 km | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 25:24.4 | ||
| SS15 | Tarzan 2 [Power Stage] | 12.68 km | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 8:34.8 |
Championship standings
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points | ||||
| 1 | 
|
Sébastien Ogier | 180 |
|
Julien Ingrassia | 180 |
|
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 397 | |||
| 2 |
|
Elfyn Evans | 136 |
|
Scott Martin | 136 |
|
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 340 | |||
| 3 |
|
Thierry Neuville | 130 |
|
Martijn Wydaeghe | 130 |
|
M-Sport Ford WRT | 153 | |||
| 4 |
|
Kalle Rovanperä | 129 |
|
Jonne Halttunen | 129 |
|
Hyundai 2C Competition | 44 | |||
| 5 |
|
Ott Tänak | 106 |
|
Martin Järveoja | 106 | ||||||
World Rally Championship-2
Classification
Special stages
Championship standings
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Teams' championships | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points | ||||
| 1 |
|
Andreas Mikkelsen | 126 |  2
|
Marcelo Der Ohannesian | 104 |
|
Toksport WRT | 211 | |||
| 2 | 1
|
Marco Bulacia Wilkinson | 104 |  1
|
Ola Fløene | 98 |
|
M-Sport Ford WRT | 131 | |||
| 3 | 1
|
Mads Østberg | 96 | 1
|
Torstein Eriksen | 96 |
|
Movisport | 125 | |||
| 4 | 2
|
Nikolay Gryazin | 67 | 2
|
Konstantin Aleksandrov | 67 |
|
Hyundai Motorsport N | 37 | |||
| 5 | 1
|
Jari Huttunen | 60 | 1
|
Mikko Lukka | 60 | 
|
Saintéloc Junior Team | 27 | |||
World Rally Championship-3
Classification
Special stages
| Day | Stage | Stage name | Length | Winners | Car | Time | Class leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September | — | Divri [Shakedown] | 4.32 km | Athanassoulas / Zakheos | Hyundai i20 N Rally2 | 3:37.8 | — |
| SS1 | Cosmote 5G Athens Stage | 0.98 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 53.0 | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | |
| 10 September | SS2 | Aghii Theodori 1 | 17.54 km | Ingram / Whittock | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 13:47.6 | Ingram / Whittock |
| SS3 | Loutraki | 19.40 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 13:52.7 | ||
| SS4 | Aghii Theodori 2 | 17.54 km | Ingram / Whittock | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 13:50.9 | ||
| SS5 | Thiva | 23.27 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 16:06.8 | ||
| SS6 | Elatia | 11.65 km | Lindholm / Hämäläinen | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 6:14.0 | ||
| 11 September | SS7 | Pavliani 1 | 24.25 km | Ingram / Whittock | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 20:28.4 | |
| SS8 | Gravia | 24.81 km | Rossel / Coria | Citroën C3 Rally2 | 21:08.1 | ||
| SS9 | Bauxites | 22.97 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 14:24.4 | Rossel / Coria | |
| SS10 | Eleftherochori 1 | 18.14 km | Stage cancelled | ||||
| SS11 | Pavliani 2 | 24.25 km | Rossel / Coria | Citroën C3 Rally2 | 20:12.0 | Rossel / Coria | |
| SS12 | Eleftherochori 2 | 18.14 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 11:42.1 | ||
| 12 September | SS13 | Tarzan 1 | 23.37 km | Rossel / Coria | Citroën C3 Rally2 | 18:27.5 | |
| SS14 | Pyrgos | 33.20 km | Rossel / Coria | Citroën C3 Rally2 | 26:08.9 | ||
| SS15 | Tarzan 2 [Power Stage] | 12.68 km | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo | 9:03.2 | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | |
Championship standings
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | |||
| 1 |
|
Yohan Rossel | 127 | 1
|
Maciek Szczepaniak | 112 | ||
| 2 |
|
Kajetan Kajetanowicz | 112 | 1
|
Alexandre Coria | 99 | ||
| 3 |
|
Nicolas Ciamin | 57 |
|
Yannick Roche | 57 | ||
| 4 | 6
|
Chris Ingram | 49 | 3
|
Ross Whittock | 49 | ||
| 5 | 6
|
Emil Lindholm | 45 | 1
|
Carlos del Barrio | 43 | ||
Notes
- ^ Nikolay Gryazin is Russian, but he competes as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.
- ^ Konstantin Aleksandrov is Russian, but he competes as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.
- ^ Under the Sporting Regulations, each car competing in the World Rally Championship-3 is entered under the driver's name.
References
- ^ a b c "Itinerary Acropolis Rally Greece 2021". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "WRC adds Acropolis Rally Greece to 2021 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "Jari-Matti Latvala wins 2013 Acropolis Rally". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Latvala named team principal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ Evans, David (2 November 2016). "Volkswagen confirms it will leave the WRC at the end of 2016". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ "Final results Acropolis Rally 2013". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Masterful Rovanperä bags Greece win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "WRC2: Mikkelsen pips team-mate on final day". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "WRC3: Rossel takes Acropolis win despite late drama". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "WRC3 winner Rossel disqualified from Acropolis". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Entry List EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
External links
- Official website (in Greek and English)
- 2021 Acropolis Rally at eWRC-results.com
- The official website of the World Rally Championship
