Finn Latvala triumphs at Acropolis Rally
Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala won the Acropolis Rally on Sunday for his first victory in the world championship (WRC) since he joined Volkswagen at the end of last season, while one fan was slightly injured during an accident.
Dubbed “The Rally of Gods”, the Greek stage of the world rallying championship proved as challenging as ever for cars and drivers, with the lead changing hands a few times in the first few days, until Latvala took over halfway through the second day, on Saturday.
On Sunday morning a man suffered a minor injury when the car of Spaniard Alex Villanueva came off the road at high speed near Loutraki and hit the fan, resulting in a half-hour stoppage to the 12th special stage of the race.
Fellow Spaniard Dani Sordo finished second for Citroen, with Belgian Thierry Neuville third in a Ford.
Latvala’s French team mate Sebastien Ogier, out of contention from the opening stage due to a fuel feed problem, remained championship leader after six rounds and collected three bonus points by winning the final “power stage”.
Poland’s former Formula One driver Robert Kubica was fastest in the WRC2 category, finishing 11th overall.
Themis Chalkias finished first among Greeks, taking his Mitsubishi Lancer to the 22nd position overall.
Here are the full results:
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen 3:31:01.200
2. Daniel Sordo (Spain) Citroen +01:50.000
3. Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Ford 02:14.100
4. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen 03:55.100
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) Ford 04:12.600
6. Mads Ostberg (Norway) Ford 05:48.700
7. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Citroen 08:00.700
8. Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford 08:01.200
9. Evgeny Novikov (Russia) Ford 08:11.800
10. Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen 10:10.300
