Rally dell’Acropoli 2026, Day 2: Neuville and Ogier take advantage of Fourmaux’s puncture

From Jon Armstrong’s first stage win to Hyundai’s almost total dominance, the second day of the ‘Rally of the Gods’ ended in favor of Thierry Neuville, with the Belgian driver still closely followed in the overall standings by Sébastien Ogier. The Frenchman, at least in the early stages, also had to contend with his compatriot Adrien Fourmaux, leader in Greece at least until the puncture that forced him to drop to third place, in a Day 2 during which Elfyn Evans, the championship leader, never shone.

Read more Acropolis Rally 2026, Day 3: Neuville remains in command, but damages the car at the end

SS1-SS4: Hyundai dominates, bad luck for Fourmaux

After winning the opening stage, Ogier started the hunt for victory at the Acropolis Rally, where he last stood on the top step in 2011. However, the Hyundai drivers were the ones who started the second day in the best way, with Adrien Fourmaux setting the best time in both SS2 and SS3, in both cases ahead of his teammate Thierry Neuville. At the end of the morning stages, and thus in SS4, the Frenchman was hit by bad luck, with a puncture that effectively handed the lead to Neuville. An incident affecting Fourmaux that did not spare other drivers in one of the toughest rallies due to its rocky dirt roads, with Ogier making an accusation against Hankook, the sole tire supplier. The nine-time world champion, who had already been very critical of the Korean company this year, considered the tire behavior to be a real “lottery”.

SS5-SS7: Armstrong’s first success

The Greek afternoon opened with the big surprise of Jon Armstrong’s best time in SS5, with the Northern Irish driver achieving his first-ever stage win in the WRC. A very positive stage test also for the M-Sport team, with six Fords among the top six classified (McErlean 4th and Sesks 6th). However, shortly after the great joy, Armstrong had to retire in the next stage due to a technical problem.

Read more Neuville, what bad luck! Ogier takes advantage and wins the Acropolis Rally

On the other hand, Neuville managed to maintain the lead ahead of Ogier, first winning SS6 and finally finishing with an advantage of almost 10 seconds over the Frenchman in SS7, despite finishing 3rd behind the Toyota driver. Also noteworthy, still within Hyundai, is Fourmaux’s comeback, who with the win in the last stage climbed back to third place in the overall standings. Disappointing performances so far for world leader Elfyn Evans, never in the top 5 in all stages contested and currently 7th in the standings.

Read more Coletta: “We knew we couldn’t fight for the victory, we have little to blame ourselves for”

Acropolis Rally 2026, standings after SS7 (Top-10)