Acropolis Rally Day Three

Acropolis Rally Day Three

2012 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
ACROPOLIS RALLY
(24-27 MAY 2012)

26.05.2012

Sébastien Loeb may have maintained his advantage at the head of the Acropolis Rally leaderboard, however the Frenchman is under attack from Petter Solberg and the pair overnight just 10.2 seconds adrift of one another. Mikko Hirvonen is now third, having benefitted when Jari-Matti Latvala sustained a puncture and plummeted from second to fourth, wrecking his hopes of challenging for victory.
 
Today’s leg took in two identical loops of four stages covering 149.56 competitive kilometres and was judged by all to be the toughest day of the event. Rain this afternoon also added to the challenge and most were simply relieved to return to the rally base in Loutraki this evening.
 
Loeb started the day with a 6.5 second advantage over Latvala but immediately came under fire and the Finn managed to close the gap to just one second after three stages. However, two stages later Latvala sustained a puncture and was forced to stop and change the wheel, dropping him more than three minutes. He retains a lonely fourth overnight. Solberg immediately took up the challenge for Ford and the Norwegian set a string of three fastest times to narrow the gap to 10.2 seconds this evening, setting the scene for an epic battle over tomorrow’s closing five stages.
 
Behind fourth-placed Latvala, Mads Østberg has moved from eighth to fifth after a trouble-free run today, while Martin Prokop maintains sixth and Thierry Neuville has moved into seventh. Sébastien Ogier lost the power steering this afternoon but holds eighth with team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen 10th.
 
Acropolis Rally – Provisional Results at the end of Saturday