Jari-Matti Latvala completed a comfortable victory in the Acropolis Rally last week, making it his maiden win in a Volkswagen Polo R. He finished the 306.53km three-day rally 1min 50.0sec clear of Dani Sordo in a Citroen DS3, with Thierry Neuville claiming a second career podium in third a further 24.1sec behind in his Ford Fiesta RS.
It was a tough weekend for some of the championship’s star names. Mads Ostberg was sixth after losing over three minutes in the first stage when he smashed a wheel against a concrete kerb. In 2003 Latvala became the youngest driver to drive a works car when he drove a Ford Focus RS in the Greek rally at just 18. Since then he has won seven WRC events for Ford, before clinching his eighth success today for Volkswagen.
Like Sordo, Neuville maintained a consistent pace for third while championship leader Sebastien Ogier in his Polo R was 10th after his hopes ended in the gruelling opening stage with fuel pressure issues.
Greek driver Lambros Athanassoulas did not restart Saturday’s competition. The winner of the P-WRC category in 2009 retired after his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X suffered a broken suspension wishbone on Friday’s opening stage.