Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally Greece is held on extremely dusty, very rough and very rocky mountain roads in blistering heat during the Greek summer period around the city of Athens. But the hightlight of the Rally is the Super Special Stage in Athens Olympic Stadium. The rally is know for being extremely tough on the competing cars and drivers.
General Info
The mix of rough, twisty mountain stages, blistering heat and choking dust makes the BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally the toughest on the calendar. Cars have to be built extra-sturdy to cope with the surprisingly fast, but rock-strewn stages, while drivers and co-drivers have to be at peak physical fitness to cope with the pounding terrain and temperatures in the cockpit that top 50C.
At 51 years of age, the Greek event is one of the longest-standing in world rallying. A list of Its previous winners reads like a roll-call of rallying legends - Walter Rohl, Bjorn Waldegaard, Ari Vatenen, Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen and Carlos Sainz (to name but a few) have won here. This year it returns to its spiritual home in Athens, thanks to the highly-successful introduction in 2005 of a superspecial inside the stadium which played home to the Olympic Games a year earlier. Although crowded, busy and bustling, it's a great city to visit.
The twisty, boulder-filled stages place huge demands on engine and cockpit cooling, as natural airflow is limited by the slow cornering speeds. The suspension and underside of the car take a huge pounding from the rocks hurled up by the car, but the big issue is tyre wear. Choose too soft a compound, and you'll suffer excess tyre wear. Too hard, and grip reduces, prompting wheelspin and - you've guessed it - excess tyre wear. You need brains to win here, as much as brawn.
In 2005 it was announced Rally of the Year. The 2006 Rally was held on June 2, 2006 through June 4, 2006. Marcus Gronholm of Finland won the Rally for the first time to end Sebastien Loeb's winning run. Sébastien Loeb ended up in second while Ford's Mikko Hirvonen came third for his second successive podium finish.
Winners
- 2006 – Marcus Gronholm, Ford
- 2005 – Sébastien Loeb, Citroën
- 2004 – Petter Solberg, Subaru
- 2003 – Markko Märtin, Ford
- 2002 – Colin McRae, Ford
- 2001 – Colin McRae, Ford
- 2000 – Colin McRae, Ford
- 1999 – Richard Burns, Subaru
- 1998 – Colin McRae, Subaru
- 1997 – Carlos Sainz, Ford
- 1996 – Colin McRae, Subaru
- 1995 – Aris Vovos, Lancia
- 1994 – Carlos Sainz, Subaru
- 1993 – Miki Biasion, Ford
- 1992 – Didier Auriol, Lancia
- 1991 – Juha Kankkunen, Lancia
- 1990 – Carlos Sainz, Toyota
- 1989 – Miki Biasion, Lancia
- 1988 – Miki Biasion, Lancia
- 1987 – Markku Alén, Lancia
- 1986 – Juha Kankkunen, Peugeot
- 1985 – Timo Salonen, Peugeot
- 1984 – Stig Blomqvist, Audi
- 1983 – Walter Röhrl, Lancia
- 1982 – Michèle Mouton, Audi
- 1981 – Ari Vatanen, Ford
- 1980 – Ari Vatanen, Ford
- 1979 – Björn Waldegård, Ford
- 1978 – Walter Röhrl, Fiat
- 1977 – Björn Waldegård, Ford
- 1976 – Harry Källström, Datsun
- 1975 – Walter Röhrl, Opel
- 1974 – Jean-Luc Thérier, Alpine-Renault
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- 1955 – Johnny Pesmatzoglou, Opel
See also
- FIA Official Website
- FIA World Rally Championship
- FIA Junior World Rally Championship
- FIA Production Car World Rally Championship
- Rallystuff.net (Unofficial WRC Fan Site)
- RallyBase
- Rallye-Info.com (formerly WRC-Online.net)
- Historic Acropolis Rally
