Hirvonen Wins Acropolis Rally, Loeb Crashes Out

Mikko Hirvonen

Everything seemed to go the right way for Ford's driver Mikko Hirvonen during the Acropolis Rally, as the Finnish ace managed to score his first win this season and, thanks to Sebastien Loeb's crash on Saturday, is now only 7 points behind the Frenchman in the overall classification. Hirvonen's teammate and Friday's performer Jari-Matti Latvala scored an impressive 3rd place of his own - considering the recovery work he had to put on during the Saturday and Sunday stages - bringing Ford some 18-point haul in the manufacturers' standings.

Second overall at the end of the Sunday stages in Greece was Citroen Junior's Sebastien Ogier, who therefore scored his best result in his WRC career. It was the only Citroen C4 WRC present on the overall podium, as neither Loeb - suffering a massive accident on Saturday - nor Dani Sordo - withdrawing due to a suspension problem with his car - managed to actually cross the finish line. Also, Ogier took advantage of Petter Solberg's suspension problem (with his soon-to-be-abandoned Citroen Xsara) while running into 2nd place to secure his maiden WRC podium.

With The Norwegian out for the remainder of the weekend, Hirvonen drove a safe rally on Sunday, aiming to preserving his lead on top of the time charts. He went on to secure Ford's second consecutive win this season, while also cutting Loeb's championship lead to a one-digit figure for the first time since Rally Portugal.

"It really looked very difficult but it's turned out to be okay. A perfect weekend for us, no mistakes and a really clever drive. We're back in the game again. We thought before this rally that if you get through without any problems, you're going to be really high up, and we proved the point," said Hirvonen after the Greek rally.

Ogier eventually managed to clinch 2nd place, despite hitting a cow during one of the Sunday stages and slightly damaging the front end of his C4. He was followed by Ford's Latvala, who had a massive time margin to recuperate following his running wide in the last stage on Friday.

"This was a very important weekend for us and now Ford has a better chance in the championship against Citroen. It didn't look so good on Friday evening, but things can turn around quite quickly. I'm massively relieved," added Latvala.

Munchi's Federico Villagra managed to secure 4th place after a thrilling battle with Citroen Junior's Conrad Rautenbach, while Khalid Al Qassimi and Mads Ostberg finished in 6th and 7th place respectively. The last point-earning position went to local wild card Lambros Athanassoulas, who pulled off a superb drive for his maiden P-WRC win of his career.