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Acropolis Rally

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Rally Acropolis
Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις
Statusactive
Genremotorsporting event
Date(s)May - June
Frequencyannual
Location(s)Athens and Lamia
CountryGreece Greece
Inaugurated1951 (1951)
FounderELPA
Websitehttp://www.acropolisrally.gr

The Acropolis Rally of Greece (Greek: Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition which used to be part of the European Rally Championship (ERC) schedule, and was formerly a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough and rocky mountain roads around Athens during the Greek hot summer period. The rally is known for being extremely tough on the competing cars and drivers.

History

The Acropolis Rally has been held since 1951 by the Greek Motorsports Organization Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA), making it one of the longest-standing competitions in world rallying. Many world renown drivers have won this event including Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, among others.

Due to the nature of the race, with a mix of rough, twisty mountain stages and coupled with blistering heat and choking dust, the Acropolis Rally is one of the toughest on the European and world rally circuits. The cars used in the race must be built with extra sturdiness in order to cope with the fast but rock-strewn stages. Drivers and co-drivers also have to contend with the pounding terrain and high summer temperatures which often reached 50 °C within the cockpit.

Super Special Stage (SSS)

In 2005 a new stage was introduced; a superspecial stage held within the Athens Olympic Stadium. The Super Special Stage (SSS) was the highlight of the rally as well as the 2005 WRC schedule and in the same year, the Acropolis Rally was awarded the “Rally of the Year” title.

In 2006 there were 2 superspecials, again in the same stadium. The rally headquarters and the service park also moved from Lamia to the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. In the 2007 event, the superspecial (along with the rally headquarters and the service park) moved to the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre. In 2008 the super special stage was held twice at the Tatoi military airport. In 2009 the rally headquarters and the service park were moved to the Greek city of Loutraki near the Corinth Canal. For the 2016 ERC Season, the rally headquarters were moved back to the classic mountain stages above Lamia.

Winners

Toni Gardemeister with Ford Focus RS WRC 05 at the 2005 event
Harri Rovanperä with a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 at the 2005 event.
Petter Solberg with a Subaru Impreza WRC05 at the 2005 event
Loeb with Citroën DS3 WRC at the 2011 event
Xavier Pons with a Citroën Xsara WRC at the 2006 event.
Nasser Al-Attiyah driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI at the 2006 event.
Year Driver
Co-driver
Car Championship
1951 Greece Petros Peratikos Fiat
1952 Greece Johnny Pesmatzoglou Chevrolet (as ELPA Rally)
1953 Greece Nikos Papamichail Jaguar
1954 Greece Pétros Papadópoulos Opel
1955 Greece Johnny Pesmatzoglou Opel
1956 Germany Walter Shock Mercedes-Benz
1957 France Jean-Pierre Estager Ferrari
1958 Italy Luigi Villoresi Lancia
1959 Germany Wolfgang Levy Auto Union
1960 Germany Walter Shock
Germany Rolf Moll
Mercedes-Benz 220 SE ERC
1961 Sweden Erik Carlsson
Sweden Walter Karlsson
Saab 96 ERC
1962 Germany Eugen Böhringer
Germany Peter Lang
Mercedes-Benz 220 SE ERC
1963 Germany Eugen Böhringer
Germany Rolf Knoll
Mercedes-Benz 300 SE ERC
1964 Sweden Tom Trana
Sweden Gunnar Thermanius
Volvo PV 544 ERC
1965 Sweden Carl-Magnus Skogh
Sweden Lennart Berggren
Volvo Amazon 122S ERC
1966 Sweden Bengt Söderström
Sweden Gunnar Palm
Ford Cortina Lotus ERC
1967 United Kingdom Paddy Hopkirk
United Kingdom Ron Crellin
Mini Cooper S ERC
1968 United Kingdom Roger Clark
United Kingdom Jim Porter
Ford Escort Twin Cam ERC
1969 Finland Pauli Toivonen
Finland Martti Kolari
Porsche 911 S
1970 France Jean-Luc Thérier
France Marcel Callewaert
Alpine-Renault A110 1600 IMC
1971 Sweden Ove Andersson
Sweden Arne Hertz
Alpine-Renault A110 1600 IMC
1972 Sweden Håkan Lindberg
Italy Helmut Eisendle
Fiat 124 Sport Spider IMC
1973 France Jean-Luc Thérier
Belgium Christian Delferrier
Alpine-Renault A110 1800 WRC
1974 Event cancelled due to the oil crisis.
1975 Germany Walter Röhrl
Germany Jochen Berger
Opel Ascona 1.9 SR WRC
1976 Sweden Harry Källström
Sweden Claes-Göran Andersson
Datsun Violet 160J WRC
1977 Sweden Björn Waldegård
Sweden Hans Thorszelius
Ford Escort RS 1800 WRC
1978 Germany Walter Röhrl
Germany Christian Geistdörfer
Fiat 131 Abarth WRC
1979 Sweden Björn Waldegård
Sweden Hans Thorszelius
Ford Escort RS 1800 WRC
1980 Finland Ari Vatanen
United Kingdom David Richards
Ford Escort RS 1800 WRC
1981 Finland Ari Vatanen
United Kingdom David Richards
Ford Escort RS 1800 WRC
1982 France Michèle Mouton
Italy Fabrizia Pons
Audi Quattro WRC
1983 Germany Walter Röhrl
Germany Christian Geistdörfer
Lancia 037 Rally WRC
1984 Sweden Stig Blomqvist
Sweden Björn Cederberg
Audi Quattro A2 WRC
1985 Finland Timo Salonen
Finland Seppo Harjanne
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 WRC
1986 Finland Juha Kankkunen
Finland Juha Piironen
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 WRC
1987 Finland Markku Alén
Finland Ilkka Kivimäki
Lancia Delta HF 4WD WRC
1988 Italy Miki Biasion
Italy Tiziano Siviero
Lancia Delta HF Integrale WRC
1989 Italy Miki Biasion
Italy Tiziano Siviero
Lancia Delta HF Integrale WRC
1990 Spain Carlos Sainz
Spain Luis Moya
Toyota Celica GT-Four WRC
1991 Finland Juha Kankkunen
Finland Juha Piironen
Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v WRC
1992 France Didier Auriol
France Bernard Occelli
Lancia Delta HF Integrale WRC
1993 Italy Miki Biasion
Italy Tiziano Siviero
Ford Escort RS Cosworth WRC
1994 Spain Carlos Sainz
Spain Luis Moya
Subaru Impreza 555 WRC
1995 Greece Aris Vovos
Greece Kostas Stefanis
Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1996 Scotland Colin McRae
Scotland Derek Ringer
Subaru Impreza 555 WRC
1997 Spain Carlos Sainz
Spain Luis Moya
Ford Escort WRC WRC
1998 Scotland Colin McRae
Wales Nicky Grist
Subaru Impreza S4 WRC '98 WRC
1999 England Richard Burns
Scotland Robert Reid
Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '99 WRC
2000 Scotland Colin McRae
Wales Nicky Grist
Ford Focus RS WRC 00 WRC
2001 Scotland Colin McRae
Wales Nicky Grist
Ford Focus RS WRC 01 WRC
2002 Scotland Colin McRae
Wales Nicky Grist
Ford Focus RS WRC 01 WRC
2003 Estonia Markko Märtin
United Kingdom Michael Park
Ford Focus RS WRC 03 WRC
2004 Norway Petter Solberg
Wales Phil Mills
Subaru Impreza S10 WRC '04 WRC
2005 France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena
Citroën Xsara WRC WRC
2006 Finland Marcus Grönholm
Finland Timo Rautiainen
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 WRC
2007 Finland Marcus Grönholm
Finland Timo Rautiainen
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 WRC
2008 France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena
Citroën C4 WRC WRC
2009 Finland Mikko Hirvonen
Finland Jarmo Lehtinen
Ford Focus RS WRC 09 WRC
2010 Not held
2011 France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia
Citroën DS3 WRC[1] WRC
2012 France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena
Citroën DS3 WRC WRC
2013 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala
Finland Miikka Anttila
Volkswagen Polo R WRC WRC
2014 Republic of Ireland Craig Breen
United Kingdom Scott Martin
Peugeot 208 T16 R5 ERC
2015 Poland Kajetan Kajetanowicz
Poland Jarosław Baran
Ford Fiesta R5 ERC
2016 Latvia Ralfs Sirmacis
Latvia Arturs Šimins
Škoda Fabia R5 ERC
2017 Poland Kajetan Kajetanowicz
Poland Jarosław Baran
Ford Fiesta R5 ERC
2018 Portugal Bruno Magalhães
Portugal Hugo Magalhães
Škoda Fabia R5 ERC
2019 Not held

Number of victories per driver (WRC only)

Since 1973, the first WRC season (excluding the 1995 event).

5 victories 3 victories 2 victories 1 victory
Colin McRae ( United Kingdom) Miki Biasion ( Italy) Ari Vatanen ( Finland) Jean-Luc Thérier ( France)
Carlos Sainz ( Spain) Björn Waldegård ( Sweden) Harry Källström ( Sweden)
Walter Röhrl ( Germany) Juha Kankkunen ( Finland) Michèle Mouton ( France)
Sébastien Loeb ( France) Marcus Grönholm ( Finland) Stig Blomqvist ( Sweden)
Timo Salonen ( Finland)
Markku Alén ( Finland)
Didier Auriol ( France)
Richard Burns ( United Kingdom)
Markko Märtin ( Estonia)
Petter Solberg ( Norway)
Mikko Hirvonen ( Finland)
Sébastien Ogier ( France)
Jari-Matti Latvala ( Finland)

References