After a serial of problems for some of the top drivers in Rally Acropolis, Jari-Matti Latvala wins one of the most difficult rally in WRC season.
Today in SS 11 Pissia 1 (11.47 km) Andreas Mikkelsen was the fastest driver followed by Evgeny Novikov. Novikov after SS 11 comments: It was very slippery and I have to adjust my driving for these two stages.
In the next SS 12 Loutraki 1 (30.14 km) again Mikkelsen is the fastest driver followed by Ogier who is at 10th position. Mikkelsen with this stage win move to fourth position overall. In this stage the car of Alexander Villanueva injured spectator as the stage was interrupted.
After the service park Mikkelsen again is at the top with new stage win followed by Al-Attyah and Novikov.
In the last rally stage SS 14 Loutraki 2 (Power Stage) with a distance of 30.14 km Sebastien Ogier make a strong attack to finished as a Power Stage winner.
Power Stage Results:
1. S. Ogier 20:38.5
2. E. Novikov +9.9
3. A. Mikkelsen +11.6
Comments:
Ogier: Not so bad, but not perfect, two mistakes. Some places was even more slippy than this morning. That's how it is and now we have to produce in Sardinia.
Latvala:  Incredible. It feels amazing. It has's been a tough Greece for me and its so nice to win. It was ten years ago I drive my first Acropolis… and its taken this long to win.
Sordo: Great weekend because of all the problems we had before. We are very happy.
Neuville:  It was a pretty good weekend for us, we had a pretty good strategy. The last one was very tricky for me, I thought we had a puncture so I slowed down the last 5 kms. then I realize that everything was ok.
Overall Results:
1. J. Latvala (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:31:01.2
2. D. Sordo (Citroen DS3 WRC) +1:50.0
3. T. Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:14.1
4. A. Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +3:55.1
5. N. Al-Attyah (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:12.6
6. M. Ostberg (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:48.7
7. M. Prokop (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +7:22.4
8. M. Hirvonen (Citroen DS3 WRC) +7:56.2
 

In a difference than the morning loop the afternoon loop of Rally Acropolis 2013 was much quiet. The rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala extend his overall lead to over a minute by the second Dani Sordo.
In the first afternoon stage SS 7 Klenia Mycenae 2, Latvala is first followed by Sebastien Ogier who after the rally restart today is currently at 14th position.
In SS 8 Ghymno 2, Evgeny Novikov set the fastest time followed by Latvala at +4.6 and Ogier at +15.0. Dani Sordo who finished the stage sixth comments the stage conditions: “It’s terrible. It’s so rough that you cannot drive. There are stones everywhere, the road is completely destroyed. You have to go through the corners slowly because if you go fast then you will break something. It’s a lottery.”
In this stage Novikov moved up to 9th position, while Ogier is 11th.
In SS 9 Kefalari 2 is reporting for rain that is rarely happens in Greece rally. In this stage Novikov is again first followed by Latvala at +1.5. Latvala comments:  “I was a little bit worried when I saw the rain because I thought it was going to be slippy. Okay, we lost grip in one or two places, and went wide a couple of times, but otherwise it turned out to be a good stage.”
In the last stage for day 2 SS 10 Ziria 2 with a distance of 21.36 km, Sebastien Ogier was 7.8 seconds faster than Mads Ostberg as third is Latvala at +11.4 seconds.
Results after the end of Day 2:
1. J. Latvala (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 2:32:42.8
2. D. Sordo (Citroen DS3 WRC) +1:04.1
3. T. Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:43.1
4. N. Al-Attyah (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:46.1
5. A. Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +4:11.8
6. M. Ostberg (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:26.3
7. M. Prokop (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:50.3
8. M. Hirvonen (Citroen DS3 WRC) +7:52.2
For the last day of Rally Acropolis there are 4 stages to run.
 

Day 2 of Rally Acropolis starts with a stage win for Novikov in SS 3 Klenia Mycenae 1 (17.41 km). Dani Sordo lost the second position by Jari-Matti Latvala. Mads Ostberg moved to eight position.
SS 4 Ghymno 1 (17.61 km) was dramatic for the current leader Evgeny Novikov who lost over 4 minutes and half due too puncture. Novikov stopped and change the wheel to continue with a damage suspension. Novikov explains: “I think we hit the same stone that Jari-Matti Latvala hit last year. I got a puncture and broke something in the suspension.”
Dani Sordo try to avoid the risk. Sodro comments his speed: “I looked at the speed of Evgeny and Jari-Matti and thought something would happen. It’s very easy to make a mistake here if you are pushing like hell. I didn’t take any risks, there is no reason to do so.”
After SS 4 Latvala moves to top position, followed by Sordo at +15.6 seconds, third is Thierry Neuville.
In SS 5 Kefalari 1 (18.40 km) the fastest driver is Latvala followed by Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier. In the overall standing Ogier is at 16th position at +10:11.8, Mikko Hirvonen is 10th at +6:18.8.
In the last stage the service park before SS 6 Ziria 1 (21.36 km) Dani Sordo finished first but Latvala is at +0.1 seconds in the stage. Andreas Mikkelsen lost 40 seconds in the stage as drop one position down to 5th, while Nasser Al-Attiyah is fourth.
Results after SS 6:
1. J. Latvala (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
2. D. Sordo (Citroen DS3 WRC)
3. T. Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)
4. N. Al-Attyah (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)
5. A. Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
6. M. Prokop (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)
There are 4 stages to run to the end of Day 2.
 

At the start of Rally Acropolis 2013 Sebastien Ogier has a technical problem with the fuel pump and retired. Ogier stopped 22 km from the start of today's SS 1 Kineta - Pissia (47.70 km). Many top drivers start the rally with problems. Mads Ostberg lost a wheel in the first stage. Finally Ostberg lost more than 3-minutes.
Mads explains:  “At the beginning of the stage we did a lot of switching between concrete and gravel and each time the surface changed we went over a step. I was going through a corner and onto a step when the wheel just fell off. There was no damage to the suspension or the steering. The only thing left on the hub was the bolt, the nuts and the cone where the wheel fits. Maybe it happened that I again hit something in the absolute worst possible angle with the tyre, I don’t know.
Mikko Hirvonen is also in a problem in the first stage. He losts almost 6-minutes in the first stage. Mikko explains:  “Something is broken in the steering rack or something from the steering. It was going really well but then 7km from the finish I started to hear some noise and feel that something was loose in the steering. Then one kilometer after that I was turning in a corner and it just went loose. I turned the steering wheel three times and nothing happened - the car just went straight ahead.
After that there were a couple of hairpin corners where I had to stop, turn the wheel, then go a bit forward, stop and turn the wheel, again and again, just to get round the corner.”
Robert Kubica also was out of the road to lost almost 3-minutes.
In the stage first finish Evgeny Novikov followed by Dani Sordo at +20.6 seconds and Latvala at +36.3. In the second stage for the first day Kineta with a distance of 26.05 km first finish Evgeny Novikov followed by Jari-Matti Latvala at +2.8 seconds.
Results after SS 2:
1. E. Novikov (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 50:59.3
2. D. Sordo (Citroen DS3 WRC) +30.3
3. J. Latvala (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +39.1
4. T. Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +51.1
5. A. Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +1:14.6
6. N. Al-Attiyah (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:32.9
Mads Ostberg is at 9th position, Kubica 10th and Hirvonen 17th position.