The Recce of EKO Acropolis Rally, which had started on Monday 6 September, finished today, Wednesday 8 September, with 2 passes from the event’s Shakedown, as well as the special stages scheduled for the final day (Tarzan, Pyrgos).

As all the crews pointed out, the muddy surface was the main characteristic of the stages, due to the rain that fell at the area of Fthiotida.

According to meteorological forecasts, weather condition is expected to improve in the coming days.

Drivers’ quotes after Recce:

 1      SEBASTIEN OGIER/JULIEN INGRASSIA

“If the rally would happen now, it would be super challenging. Let’s see what weather we get for the rally but, if it stays like this, for sure it will be very difficult”.

33    ELFYN EVANS/SCOTT MARTIN

“It’s wet at the moment, and quite muddy obviously. I think if it keeps like this it will be more difficult, especially with the tyre allocation that we have”.

 11    THIERRY NEUVILLE/MARTIJN WYDAEGHE

“Obviously it’s difficult to give any good comments now due to the weather. I mean that everything is full of mud, except for Friday’s stages, which are more or less dry. So, for the moment the conditions are very tricky and it’s difficult to predict what it’s going to be during the race”.

 69    KALLE ROVANPERÄ/JONNE HALTTUNEN

“It’s quite difficult weather now. It’s going to be tricky to see how it evolves during the rally”.

 8      OTT TÄNAK/MARTIN JÄRVEOJA

“The special stages are very muddy at the moment. The surface is muddy, so it’s quite broken”.

 18    TAKAMOTO KATSUTA/KEATON WILLIAMS

Takamoto Katsuta and Keaton Williams will not start the rally, due to an emergency family affair of the British co-driver, who had to return home. However, the Japanese driver completed the Recce.

“Of course it’s kind of a disappointment, but life and health are the most important things. I hope that Keaton’s family is OK, nothing else. Of course it’s not a good situation, but I need to accept this and try to focus on next rally. The special stages are very tricky, not easy”.

 44    GUS GREENSMITH/CHRIS PATTERSON

“The special stages are not in good condition, for sure. In some places we have done the Recce blind, so we don’t know what it is going to turn up in the rally. So yeah, it will be interesting”.

 6      DANI SORDO/CANDIDO CARRERA

“Today’s stages were very muddy and it’s a strange Acropolis Rally. I don’t know. Even if there’s going to be good weather, the road will not change a lot. So it will be tricky this year”.

 16    ADRIEN FOURMAUX/RENAUD JAMOUL

“Ι think that it looks like Wales Rally GB. Actually, it’s quite difficult with the rain. It’s soft and muddy. It’s a shame, because the stages are really nice, but it will be a big challenge for sure”.

 7      PIERRE-LOUIS LOUBET/FLORIAN HAUT-LABOURDETTE

“The special stages are muddy for sure and very difficult. If it’s this type of condition, it will be a very hard rally. So we will see what we are able to do. At the moment we’ll wait”.

 9      JOURDAN SERDERIDIS/FRED MICLOTTE

“The stages are very bad. I think that the only way is to try to survive”.

 20    ANDREAS MIKKELSEN/ELLIOTT EDMONDSON

“Yeah, it’s very muddy. But I think it will dry up for the rally, it should be better. We got an idea of the stages but it’s difficult to make notes in this weather. We did our best”.

 21    MADS OSTBERG/TORSTEIN ERIKSEN

“The stages themselves look very nice. Just the condition we are seeing at the moment is making the stages very tricky. It’s a shame, because I think it would have been a really nice Acropolis this time, much cleaner, a little bit faster and not so rough as normal. But it’s like this, hopefully it’s going to dry up a bit towards the weekend and hopefully (it’s going to be) a little bit better”.

22    MARCO BULACIA/MARCELO OHANNESIAN

“I think that it will be the most challenging gravel rally I will do this year. I'm looking forward to it”.

 23    NIKOLAY GRYAZIN/KONSTANTIN ALEKSANDROV

“The weather on the Recce was like that. It’s not easy, but we hope it’s going to be better with a race car. It’s been long three days, but finally we are ending our Recce”.

 26    SEAN JOHNSTON/ALEX KIHURANI

“The stages are gorgeous and the conditions are making them very tricky. I would have preferred it to be dry but, it is the first time we see muddy conditions like this. So, very low grip here in the Recce car. I hope it will be more enjoyable and easier to tackle in the rally cars. So I’m looking forward to it”.

 27    GEORG LINNAMÄE/JAMES MORGAN

“The rally is quite tricky but a lot of fun, so looking forward to it. There was a lot of mud in the stages. If this weather continues, it will be super tricky during the rally”.

 28    OLIVER SOLBERG/AARON JOHNSTON

“Very muddy stages for sure. Every day is very different and tricky. I think that Friday is very rough. Then Saturday is beautiful and so is Sunday. But it’s just very muddy and wet. Today’s stages, Tarzan and the long one (Pyrgos), were very muddy, so definitely it will not be easy”.

29    LEO URLICHICH/TOM WOODBURN

“We are either going to get lots of rocks and rough (surface), or we are going to get very slippery conditions, which are obviously unpredictable. SS Eleftherohori showed us that on the same stage some parts have crazy mud and others have a completely dry line at least, whereas the staff under the trees will be crazy muddy still. That's going to be a challenge”.

58    MOLLY TAYLOR/SEBASTIAN MARSHALL

“The stages are very wet at the moment, so we will see what happens in a couple of days. But it’s a good challenge”.

For high quality photos click here