WRC Acropolis Rally - Hänninen is second after Day 1

[Hetzer]

WRC Acropolis Rally - Hänninen is second after Day 1
6/17/2011

The Rally Acropolis has shown already on Day 1 why it is regarded as one of the icons of rallying.

An extremely broken track with lots of stones lying on its surface, omnipresent dust, high temperatures and long stages are indeed a challenge for both the drivers and their cars.

Many of the cars had defects or some other technical problems today, but the drivers of the Red Bull Škoda team are still in the game – after six stages of Day 1, Hänninen is second, 29 seconds behind leader Tänak in a Ford, Gassner is fifth (- 3:15 min.)

Commenting on the first day, Juho Hänninen thinks positive: “We had two defects and a minor clash with a rock, but nothing really serious. We are losing less than 30 seconds, which is nothing in a rally like this one. On the other hand, every acceleration increases the risk of a defect more then anywhere else. The tracks here are extremely broken, and many of our opponents have already paid dearly for that.”

Hermann Gassner is happy about his fifth place after Day 1: “This is the most difficult rally we have ever taken part in. It's very easy to make a mistake here or puncture a tyre, but we are still in the game and that is what counts.”

The Acropolis Rally continues on Saturday with seven stages and the same number of kilometres as today (142). Sunday's programme includes the last five stages (65 km).


skoda-auto

 

[Hetzer]

en gewonnen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juho Häninen win the Acropolis Rally

It would have been indeed difficult to find a better place for the first victory in SWRC. The Red Bull ŠKODA team won the legendary Acropolis Rally, one of the most difficult events.

The season’s fourth event saw Juho Hänninen win after putting in a brilliant performance – a combination of speed, patience and cool-headedness. Although he was one of the fastest drivers right from the start, Hänninen was careful to avoid driving mistakes and technical problems which, together with failures on the part of some of his opponents, made it possible for him to set the pace. He was second until Stage 6, keeping the gap behind leader Tänak (Ford) reasonably small.

He did not avoid minor problems, either (defects in Stage 1 and Stage 2 and a minor clash with a rock), but without any serious consequences, and when Tänak dropped out in Stage 7, he started increasing his lead to finish nearly five minutes ahead of Sousa (Ford) in the end.

After his first victory this season, Juho is in the overall lead of the championship: “It’s been a great weekend for our team, for me and Mikko, as well as the entire championship. It’s indeed been the most difficult Acropolis Rally in history, and I wish to thank all the guys in the team. We are going to the next event to Finland, my home country, as the championship leaders – it’s great!”

Hermann Gassner’s main ambition in Greece was to finish the rally, which he actually did. His performance curve is climbing, which is the most important thing in terms of his further development, and although he did not get to the podium (some of the reasons being a problem with transmission oil and a driving mistake causing him to make a 360), he was very happy, too: “It’s definitely been the most difficult rally we have ever taken part in. We had a few problems, so we are happy to have got to the finish. It was very difficult to find the optimum balance between driving fast and playing it safe, but we did a good job. If it hadn’t been for the problems we had, we could have had podium ambitions!”

Head of the team Raimund Baumschlager was thrilled to bits, too: “The whole team put in an excellent performance. We had everything under control and Juho has shown how brilliant he is on gravel. I also have to congratulate Hermann whose task here in Greece was to “survive” as many kilometres as possible. It’s been a great weekend for the whole team.”