Thierry Neuville tops shakedown ahead of Rally Greece

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has topped the shakedown at the World Rally Championship’s Acropolis Rally in Greece, pipping Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier to the fastest time.

Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool

Neuville has continued his strong form on gravel at the opening tests of the Acropolis Rally Greece, taking the top time in both the opening pass and the overall classification.

The 2024 world champion took victory on the last WRC gravel event, in Portugal, earlier in the year, and looks set to continue with his strong performance on the road surface.

Hyundai’s Belgian crew topped the clock at 2 minutes and 13.4 seconds, going a tenth faster than anyone else, with Ogier coming up second with a 2m 13.5s run of the 3.34km test. Neuville’s teammate, Adrian Fourmaux, rounded out the top three ahead of a trio of Toyotas.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was the first driver to venture out onto the shakedown stage as the championship leader. Unsurprisingly, the Welshman paid the price for his road position as the first driver to sweep the road, creating better conditions for those behind.

By the end of the test, Evans found himself down in 10th overall, despite going over three seconds faster than his first run.

See below for the best times of the shakedown test. The first course of the event will get underway later on today with a 1.86km superspecial stage, with the first car expected to get underway at 7:05pm, local time.

Thierry Neuville tops first pass of Rally Greece

Shakedown fastest times:

1. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai – 2m 13.4s
2. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota – 2m 13.5s
3. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai – 2m 15.4s
4. Oliver Solberg, Toyota – 2m 15.7s
5. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota – 2m 16.2s
6. Sami Pajari, Toyota – 2m 17.1s
7. Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford – 2m 17.4s
8. Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford – 2m 18s
9. Daniel Sordo, Hyundai – 2m 18.2s
10. Elfyn Evans, Toyota – 2m 18.2s
11. Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford – 2m 19.9s

M-Sport Ford’s Jourdan Serderidis finished the test 31st overall with the best time of 2m 33s.

2026 Acropolis Rally Greece: The full WRC stage guide and times

Read more WRC here:

• Thierry Neuville tops first pass of shakedown at Rally Greece
• Solberg looking to put asphalt troubles ‘behind me’ ahead of Rally Greece
• Acropolis Rally Greece: the latest WRC weather forecast
• Ogier looking forward to Rally Greece challenge with new base
• Elfyn Evans believes the rally championship remains ‘very open’
• FIA conclude Candidate Rally US event for 2027 calendar bid
• Toyota expecting a ‘demanding’ end to 2026 WRC season
• 2026 Acropolis Rally Greece: The full WRC stage guide and times
• Fourmaux aiming for win to get Hyundai title bid back on

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.