The EKO Acropolis Rally, round eight of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, took place from 25 to 28 August and once again lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest events on the calendar. Crews faced scorching temperatures, rough gravel roads and relentless tyre wear across the Greek mountains, where survival proved just as important as speed.
Thursday
The rally began with the morning shakedown, where Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe topped the timesheets on their third run with a time of 2:13.4. Sébastien Ogier finished second ahead of Adrien Fourmaux, Oliver Solberg, Takamoto Katsuta, Sami Pajari, Mārtiņš Sesks, Josh McErlean, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans and Jon Armstrong.
Attention then turned to the 1.56 km Athens Super Special Stage, where thousands of spectators welcomed the championship back to the Greek capital. Ogier immediately laid down the benchmark with a time of 1:38.2, one second clear of Katsuta, while Neuville completed the overnight top three.
Friday
Friday marked the beginning of the traditional Acropolis challenge with six demanding gravel stages: Bauxites, Parnassos Mt, Stiri (run twice), Elikon Mt and Thiva.
Neuville moved into the overall lead on SS2, while Fourmaux climbed from fifth to second and Ogier settled into third. The rough roads immediately began taking their toll, with punctures for Sesks and Solberg during the opening loop.
Fourmaux briefly inherited the rally lead on SS3, but his advantage lasted only one stage. A puncture on SS4 dropped the French driver to fourth, allowing Jon Armstrong to climb onto the provisional podium.
In SS3 Dani Sordo lost significant time changing a puncture, while in SS4, Pajari was delayed after stopping briefly on stage, Katsuta suffered a rear-right tyre delamination at the finish, and Sesks suffered three delaminations.
One of Friday’s standout moments came on SS5 when Armstrong and Shane Byrne claimed their maiden WRC stage victory, delivering a memorable achievement for M-Sport Ford. However, their rally unravelled almost immediately. A puncture, a stall in a hairpin and subsequent power loss left them with a broken turbo before SS7, forcing an early retirement. Serderidis also retired with mechanical issues on SS6, while Oliver Solberg’s difficult season continued after sliding off the road and becoming stranded on a bank during SS7.
Friday standings
- 1. Thierry Neuville – 1:26:48.2
- 2. Sébastien Ogier – +9.7
- 3. Adrien Fourmaux – +42.4
Saturday
Saturday featured another brutal six-stage itinerary with two passes of Ghymno and Melano Mt, alongside Kolines and Kefalari.
The top three remained unchanged throughout the morning until the rally dramatically swung in SS12. Fourmaux suffered another puncture around 3.1 km into the stage, forcing a wheel change that dropped him from third to sixth overall. Katsuta capitalised to move into the podium positions after having already overtaken Josh McErlean earlier in the day.
The deteriorating road conditions forced organisers to shorten the stage before it was ultimately cancelled due to spectators entering the competitive section.
Drama continued on the final stage when Neuville struck a bank near the finish, damaging his cooling system. Although he reached the end of the stage, he conceded six valuable seconds to Ogier, reducing his overall lead to just 4.1 seconds heading into Sunday. The stage was later cancelled following an accident involving Ali Türkkan and Oytun Albayrak. Fortunately, both crew members were uninjured.
Saturday standings
- 1. Thierry Neuville – 2:40:18.7
- 2. Sébastien Ogier – +4.1
- 3. Takamoto Katsuta – +2:17.0
Sunday
The final day comprised four stages across two passes of Aghii Teodori and Loutraki, with the battle for victory finely balanced between Neuville and Ogier.
Neuville immediately came under pressure on the opening stage, struggling with the rear of the Hyundai and reporting a noticeably softer car compared with Saturday. Ogier seized the opportunity to move into the overall lead, although the gap between the pair remained just 1.3 seconds.
The championship rivals then produced one of the drives of the weekend on SS15, both setting an identical fastest time of 11:19.6 over the 16.61 km stage, leaving the rally perfectly set for the closing tests.
The decisive moment arrived on SS16 when Neuville suffered double rear punctures, ending his hopes of victory and handing Ogier a comfortable advantage for the remaining stages.
Ogier rounded off a flawless Sunday by claiming maximum Power Stage points, finishing ahead of Pajari, Neuville, Katsuta and Evans.
Josh McErlean initially celebrated a career-best fourth-place finish, his strongest WRC result since Rally Japan 2024. However, he got a one-minute penalty after officials determined he had continued driving after stopping on SS12 without properly fastening his seatbelts, dropping him down the final classification.
Final Results
- 1. Sébastien Ogier – 3:36:40.7
- 2. Thierry Neuville – +58.3
- 3. Takamoto Katsuta – +3:04.8
WRC2
The WRC2 category delivered another intense Škoda battle. Andreas Mikkelsen controlled the opening stages ahead of Robert Virves, with both drivers remaining closely matched throughout the weekend.
The lead finally changed on SS15 when Mikkelsen was forced to stop and replace a punctured tyre, allowing Virves to move into first position.
Behind them, the battle for third centred on Yohan Rossel, Alejandro Cachón and Jan Solans. Rossel’s hopes suffered a major blow on Friday after losing power steering on SS7, costing him six positions. Solans remained locked in a close duel with Cachón until SS15, when a puncture effectively ended his podium challenge.
Virves maintained his advantage through Sunday to claim the WRC2 victory, finishing ahead of Mikkelsen, while Cachón secured the final podium position after a composed and consistent performance.
