The Acropolis gravel rally, with its roads full of sharp stones, is always a very demanding event where the threat of a puncture constantly looms over the crews. In the end, a puncture ultimately decided this year’s intense battle for victory between the two Toksport WRT crews. Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo ultimately emerged victorious, while Andreas Mikkelsen and Jørn Listerud finished second.
The crews competing in Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars began the Acropolis Rally in Greece at an excellent pace, but Friday’s special stages quickly demonstrated just how unpredictable this event can be. The Toksport WRT duo rapidly pulled clear at the front, but behind them the standings fluctuated considerably, largely because of punctures and other issues."
One puncture also affected the Norwegian crew of Mikkelsen/Listerud, although it was not a puncture on their own car. During one of the special stages, they were delayed behind Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti, who were changing a wheel and rejoined the stage only moments ahead of the leading crew. For Mikkelsen, it was an unwelcome complication, as from the very beginning of the rally he had been under pressure from teammate Virves, who was running in second position. However, the stewards later adjusted the Norwegian crew’s stage time, and, thanks to that decision, they remained at the top of the overall standings at the end of Friday’s programme, ahead of their Estonian team-mates. Their advantage, however, was only 8.2 seconds.
The battle continued on Saturday. Virves never lost more than 16 seconds to Mikkelsen, and the two crews exchanged fastest times throughout the day. Virves eventually won seven special stages, while Mikkelsen claimed six. Jan Solans added one further stage victory in a Fabia RS Rally2, meaning that Škoda crews topped a total of 14 of the 17 special stages contested.
And it could actually have been even more, but in the fierce battle—with Virves constantly applying pressure on Mikkelsen from behind—a sharp stone ultimately decided the outcome. In Sunday’s second special stage (SS15), Mikkelsen and Listerud suffered a puncture, which cost them a significant amount of time. “I hit a stone on the outside. We had to change the wheel,” explained the former WRC2 World Champion after losing more than one and a half minutes.
The Norwegian driver refused to give up and continued to push, hoping that a similar problem might also affect his team-mate. And it was not far from happening. In the very next stage, which was also the second-to-last stage of the rally, the Estonian crew suffered a tyre coming off the rim. Nevertheless, they managed to reach the finish of the stage having lost only a little over fifteen seconds.
In the final stage, Virves was no longer chasing the fastest time. He avoided further trouble and secured the victory. “It definitely wasn’t the easiest rally, but it was an amazing weekend,” said Robert Virves at the finish. “I really enjoyed battling Andreas throughout the entire rally. It’s a shame that it ended with a puncture for him. But that’s rallying sometimes.” Mikkelsen was, understandably, disappointed by the loss: “I think we really deserved it. But tomorrow the sun will rise again,” he said at the finish.
The crew of Jan Solans and Rodrigo Sanjuán from the PH.Ph team were also left disappointed at the finish. The Spanish duo had been among the fastest crews throughout the event and still held third place in the WRC2 category on Sunday morning. However, a double puncture, further damage to the car and a subsequent penalty dropped them to eighth position in the final classification. Ninth place went to the French Batirace crew of Mattéo Chatillon and Maxence Cornuau in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. As a result, four Škoda cars finished inside the overall top ten.
Škoda also secured a one-two finish in the WRC Masters Cup category reserved for drivers over the age of 50. Mexican driver Miguel Granados and Spanish co-driver Marc Martí claimed victory. Turkish crew Uğur Soylu and co-driver Mehmet Yalçin received the trophy for second place.
Thanks to his performance in Greece, Robert Virves moved up to sixth place in the WRC2 championship standings, with Mikkelsen one position behind him. Remarkably, the Estonian driver has so far contested two nominated scoring events and has won both of them. He also competed in Portugal, but that rally was not nominated as one of his points-scoring events. Furthermore, the one-two finish for the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and Toksport WRT moved the team into the provisional lead of the team standings.
