Latvala wins 2013 Acropolis for VW
Jari-Matti Latvala completely dominated the Acropolis Rally, claiming his first World Rally Championship win since joining Volkswagen helped when a fuel feed problem took Latvala's championship-leading team-mate Sebastien Ogier out of contention on the very first stage.
Latvala quickly claimed second from Sordo on Saturday morning and then benefited when Novikov clipped a bank and picked up damage, following which Latvala cruised to a commanding victory, a minute and a half clear of Sordo. Thierry Neuville finished third, salvaging a podium for M-Sport Ford despite Novikov's disappointment. Andreas Mikkelsen overcame miscellaneous problems to snatch fourth from Nasser Al-Attiyah thanks to a string of stage wins on the final morning.
Evgeny Novikov, M-Sport Ford, Mads Ostberg and Mikko Hirvonen hit trouble on Friday evening and were left several minutes down before the rally had really started but recovered to sixth and seventh. Novikov could only salvage ninth, while 10th was Ogier's limit when he rejoined under Rally 2 regulations but he did get the three powerstage bonus points. Former F1 driver Robert Kubica clinched his biggest rallying success yet with a commanding performance in WRC 2.
Despite his problems on this event, Sebastien Ogier maintains a healthy lead in the 2013 championship with 126 points with Jari-Matti Latvala now second with 74 and Sebastien Loeb third on 68. Next event is Rally d'Italia Sardegna 20th-23rd June.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala VW 3h31m01.2s
2. Dani Sordo Citroen + 1m50.0s
3. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford + 2m14.1s
4. Andreas Mikkelsen VW + 3m55.1s
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah M-Sport Ford + 4m12.6s
6. Mads Ostberg M-Sport Ford + 5m48.7s
7. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 8m00.7s
8. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 8m01.2s
9. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 8m11.8s
10. Sebastien Ogier VW + 10m10.3s
2nd June, 2013