While Ott Tänak is heading for victory in the Acropolis Rally, Toyota suffered two setbacks on Saturday afternoon
Hyundai driver Ott Tänak made an impressive mark on Saturday at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, the seventh round of the 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC). The Estonian won five of the day’s six stages and extended his lead over Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) to 43.6 seconds ahead of the final day. While Hyundai is on course for its first victory of the 2025 season, Toyota suffered a bitter setback: Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta both retired in the afternoon.
Tänak started Saturday with a revised basic setup – with resounding success. The Hyundai factory driver found significantly more confidence in the handling of his i20 N and gave the competition little chance. “It was an extremely demanding day with very tough stages,” said Tänak at the finish. “We had a good starting position and the car improved as the day went on.”
Only the tenth special stage (SS) went to Ogier, who focused on minimizing risk in his GR Yaris to avoid tire damage and mechanical problems. The Frenchman finished the day in second place.
Fourmaux loses touch: improvisation with cable ties
Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), who started the day as Tänak’s closest rival, lost ground on the first stages. A slip on SS10, where he touched an earth wall, cost him 1:11 minutes and dropped him back to third place (+2:08.0 minutes).
Fourmaux had to make a temporary repair to the damaged wishbone on his Hyundai while still on the road: “We knew we had to cover 60 kilometers in 60 minutes – so no stress,” said the Frenchman. “I fixed the wishbone with a pen, like in medicine, and then secured it with a tension belt so that the wheel wouldn’t swing out too far.”
Double Toyota retirement on SS11: Rovanperä and Katsuta stranded
For Toyota, disaster struck on the particularly rough SS11 “Pavliani 2.” Rovanperä, who was in seventh place overall, skidded off the track in a right-hand corner and got stuck on the side of the road. Spectators helped push him back onto the track, but technical problems with the brakes and drivetrain prevented him from continuing.
SS11 drama for Rovanperä WRC AcropolisRally pic.twitter.com/7FZTOSZfIz
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) June 28, 2025
Just a few minutes later, Katsuta also crashed: The Japanese driver misjudged his braking for a left-hand corner just 600 meters before the finish line. “The car hardly slowed down on the bumpy section,” explained Katsuta. “I almost made the corner, but the front wheel didn’t turn in, and then we were stuck in a pile of gravel. A stupid mistake, but also a lot of bad luck.”
Evans’ last remaining Toyota – Neuville on the advance
After the double retirement of his teammates, Elfyn Evans is the last remaining Toyota full-time driver in the competition. The Welshman stayed out of trouble and is in fourth place (+3:04.4 minutes), but had to drive on hard tires, which slowed him down a bit in terms of speed.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) continued his comeback after a series of tire failures.
Despite two more problems on Saturday morning, the Hyundai star worked his way up to fifth place (+4:17.7 minutes).
Gregoire Munster lost a position due to persistent problems with the handbrake in his M-Sport Ford and fell back to sixth place. His teammate Josh McErlean also struggled with the same issues, which were made worse by damage to the rear of his car sustained earlier in the morning.
Oliver Solberg (Toyota) remains the man to beat in the WRC2 class. The Swede ended Saturday more than a minute ahead of Gus Greensmith (Skoda) and thus retains the lead in the category.
The final day of the rally will once again demand everything from the drivers: with a total of 99 kilometers of special stages, the longest Sunday of the season lies ahead.