Championship culminates on Acropolis Rally Greece

The iconic event, with a rich history spanning decades, promises to test the mettle of the young, aspiring drivers like never before. 

The Acropolis Rally Greece is a historically significant event which is over 70 years old and was one of the original staples of the inaugural World Rally Championship calendar. 

The rally is renowned for its gruelling stages, unforgiving terrain, and scorching summer temperatures, that when combined have a reputation for pushing both man and machine to their limits.

Drivers must demonstrate not only their speed but also their endurance and adaptability. The rally’s rough gravel stages combined with unpredictable weather conditions, ensure that competitors must be prepared for anything. The rocky and abrasive roads can be particularly punishing on tyres adding an extra layer of complexity to the event.

Making his Junior WRC debut this weekend is Nataniel Bruun from Bolivia who is competing outside of South America for the first time in his career. Bruun is just 18 years old and has competed on just 18 rallies, all but one in his home nation of Bolivia. 

The Bolivian youngster is keeping his expectations realistic and focussed on maximising every opportunity available to him during his first WRC experience. 

The final round presents an opportunity for one crew to add their name to the history books and set themselves on a trajectory with the potential to transform their careers. 

While the star names like Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans and Craig Breen went onto the sport’s highest level, it’s names like Sami Pajari and Robert Virves who are underlining what could be next for this year’s champion. The pride of becoming champion isn’t all that’s at stake, the biggest prize package in rallying is up for grabs with 4 fully funded prize drives in an M-Sport Fiesta Rally2 including 200 Pirelli tyres.

While on paper William Creighton has a mammoth 29-point lead over Laurent Pellier, his lead isn’t as significant when factoring in a total of 65 points that are up for grabs thanks to double classification points and one point per stage win. Not only that, but each crew’s best four classification scores count. It means in total, six different drivers have a mathematical chance of clinching the title, but the three main contenders are William Creighton, Laurent Pellier and Diego Dominguez.  

Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, said: “We have got a very interesting week ahead of us. The crews have already had a difficult start to the event with the tricky recce conditions which I think will affect those coming here for the first time more than those who have competed on the rally before. We saw the title fight go down to the final stage of the rally and I expect the same this year. On their best days and without any external factors, not much separates Willian, Laurent and Diego. I think they are more than aware of this too so I am particularly interested to see just how much they try and push at the start of this rally.”