Date: 09.09.2021
Day: 1
Flash N°: 1
Special stage: Shakedown Stage
Distance: 4,25 km
Weather: Cloudy
Road conditions: Wet gravel, mud

1 SEBASTIEN OGIER/JULIEN INGRASSIA

“It was more like RAC rally. This is nothing like we expected. We try to judge the grip. We haven't tested in conditions like this.”

33 ELFYN EVANS/SCOTT MARTIN

“It's very different from what we have in Wales. I hope we have a good weekend, but it's going to be very difficult.”

11 THIERRY NEUVILLE/MARTIJN WYDAEGHE

“We didn't expect these conditions. The recce was awful. We have to wait and see for the weather in the next days. We hope that it will be better.”

69 KALLE ROVANPERÄ/JONNE HALTTUNEN

“We didn't expect these conditions in Greece. It's very different. The conditions are very difficult. Podium is always a target for us. We will see what happens.”

8 OTT TÄNAK/MARTIN JÄRVEOJA

“The shakedown was pretty muddy. We hope it's going to be a dry and normal Acropolis Rally.”

44 GUS GREENSMITH/CHRIS PATTERSON

“I didn't see much in the recce, because there was a lot of fog. Shakedown was muddy but not so bad. There was more grip than we expected, even with the hard tyres.”

6 DANI SORDO/CANDIDO CARRERA

“Some stages are very bad. We have a small issue with the car, we are going to see it in the service. Conditions are not normal for Greece.”

16 ADRIEN FOURMAUX/RENAUD JAMOUL

“We didn't expect these conditions when we came to Greece. The stage was very slippy. It's going to be challenging, because the conditions are going to be different from stage to stage.”

7 PIERRE-LOUIS LOUBET/FLORIAN HAUT-LABOURDETTE

“It's not what we expected. If it's going to be like this, it's going to be tricky. I don't expect the situation to be better.”

9 JOURDAN SERDERIDIS/FRED MICLOTTE

“Very difficult shakedown and very slippery. We missed a left corner already.”

20 ANDREAS MIKKELSEN/ELLIOTT EDMONDSON

“The conditions in the recce were very difficult. This is not about speed; you have to be clever. We hope the weather will be better. We have to think about the championship.”

21 MADS OSTBERG/TORSTEIN ERIKSEN

“These are enjoyable conditions. I enjoyed this stage. We have to save the soft tyres, we are checking here that everything works OK.”

22 MARCO BULACIA/MARCELO OHANNESIAN

“For sure these are conditions that we didn't expect. We saw in the shakedown how the stages are going to be. It will be a challenge.”

23 NIKOLAY GRYAZIN/KONSTANTIN ALEKSANDROV

“It feels good. Besides the fact that in one hairpin we stalled the engine and lost about 7 seconds. We need to drive more this car. It was difficult with the hard compound. We will try to increase our pace during the rally.”

28 OLIVER SOLBERG/AARON JOHNSTON

“It was tricky. There was more grip at the beginning, but in the tarmac we had a half spin. We are on the hard tyres so it's OK. We are going to make some setup changes in the settings.”

COMMENTS

The shakedown of the EKO Rally Acropolis is completed and Kalle Rovanpera has set the fastest time. Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak were 2^nd and 3^rd. The conditions in the stage were very difficult. There was a lot of mud and the stage was very slippery in some parts.

Here you can find high resolution images from the Shakedown.