WRC 2025 Rd.7 Day 3 | 2025 | PRESS RELEASE | WRC

Acropolis Rally Greece: Day 3 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Ogier second after Saturday in Greece

2025.6.28 (Sat)

Sébastien Ogier moved up to second place on the penultimate day of Acropolis Rally Greece with fellow TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team driver Elfyn Evans also holding onto a top-four position.

Car 17 (Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais)

Saturday was the longest day of the rally in terms of competitive distance with two loops of three stages in the mountains south of Lamia totalling 123.44 kilometres. Starting the day in third overall, Ogier used his experience to guide his GR YARIS Rally1 through the day quickly and without issue. He took a stage win in the morning’s third and final stage, and with it gained second place when Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) sustained damage.

A consistent rhythm from championship leader Elfyn Evans ensured he strengthened his grip on fourth position, achieving another mistake-free day of driving to close in on an important points haul.

Takamoto Katsuta started strongly on Saturday, gaining almost a minute on the driver in front during the morning loop to take fifth position. A small but costly overshoot on SS11 ended his day however, when he became stuck on a gravel bank and was unable to continue.

Kalle Rovanperä was running in eighth place until SS11, where he also ran wide and got stuck. Though he was briefly able to continue again, he ultimately had to stop in the stage and retire for the day.

The car of Sami Pajari did not return to the stages after its retirement on Friday, the team electing to focus on preparing the car for a restart on Sunday. The team is working this evening to get all three retired cars back on the road tomorrow.

The Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 continues to lead the way in the WRC2 support category, with Oliver Solberg’s Printsport-run car leading by over a minute. Kajetan Kajetanowicz in third place with Rallylab Technology ensures that two GR Yaris Rally2 cars are currently in podium position.

Quotes:
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“It has been both a good day and a bad day today: Seb and Elfyn both drove very well again, but we unfortunately lost Taka and Kalle from the overall fight this afternoon. Seb tried his best but Tänak was very fast today and it’s not looking likely that we will be able to catch him on pace. Tomorrow is still a long day to get through, and we should have Taka, Kalle and Sami all returning to join the fight for bonus points on Super Sunday.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“The feeling in the car was better today with our position further back in the road order certainly helping us. We tried to keep a decent speed and rhythm while staying out of trouble and we managed to achieve that. We definitely have to give it a go tomorrow but also have to wait and see how the feeling is. It will be a rough and long day tomorrow, not a typical short Sunday, but those Sunday points are important, so we will have to try.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s not been an easy day. Already in the morning I was struggling quite a bit. Then in the first stage of the afternoon we went off in quite a rough braking, going a bit wide and getting stuck. After we got back on the road we saw that we had some damage on the car; I’m not sure if that’s why I couldn’t get the car slowed down, but it meant we couldn’t finish the stage. Tomorrow we just need to try and have a good day and get as many points as we can.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“It was a solid day for us and we have to be happy to get through another challenging day in Greece. At least it was not as hot as yesterday so it was a bit more enjoyable. The roughness was still there in places and managing the tyre wear was a big focus on the second pass this afternoon. Ott was flying today so there was not much we could do and we realised this morning that road position was still playing a role. Tomorrow everything is still to play for; there are many kilometres to go and very rough conditions expected on the second pass, but with Sunday points on offer, nobody can relax!”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Today started much better than yesterday. We changed a few things on the car overnight and felt more comfortable and confident. It felt even better in the afternoon after some changes during service and the split times were looking good in SS11. It wasn’t a crazy push and everything felt under control, but under braking for one hairpin it was quite bumpy and rough and I couldn’t get the car stopped. Unfortunately there was a gravel bank on the outside and we got stuck on top and could not get out. It was quite unlucky but it was my mistake, and I’m sorry to the team.”

End of day three (Saturday):
1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 2h56m31.7s
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +43.6s
3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m08.0s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +3m04.4s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +4m17.7s
6 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +5m55.0s
7 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +6m56.7s
8 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +8m34.5s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +8m44.5s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) +8m59.6s
TBC Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
TBC Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
TBC Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
(Results as of 19:40 on Saturday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

What's next?
Acropolis Rally Greece concludes on Sunday with two stages run twice: Smokovo, which is brand new, and the legendary Tarzan stage, the second pass of which will also act as the points-paying Power Stage. Though it is the shortest leg of the rally at 99.06km, it features several tempo changes, mixing from fast to technical – and even featuring a brief section on cobbles during the Tarzan test.