2021 Acropolis Rally

2021 Acropolis Rally
EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021
Round 9 of 12 in the 2021 World Rally Championship
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The Acropolis Rally of Greece returned to the championship after eight years.
Host country Greece
Rally baseLamia, Central Greece
Dates run9 – 12 September 2021
Start locationAthens, Attica
Finish locationLamia, Central Greece
Stages15 (292.19 km; 181.56 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceGravel
Transport distance993.66 km (617.43 miles)
Overall distance1,253.15 km (778.67 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered55
Crews48 at start, 43 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerFinland Kalle Rovanperä
Finland Jonne Halttunen
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
3:28:24.6
Power Stage winnerFinland Kalle Rovanperä
Finland Jonne Halttunen
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
8:34.8
Support category results
WRC-2 winnerNorway Andreas Mikkelsen
United Kingdom Elliott Edmondson
Germany Toksport WRT
3:37:27.1
WRC-3 winnerPoland Kajetan Kajetanowicz
Poland Maciej Szczepaniak
3:39:48.2

The 2021 Acropolis Rally (also known as the EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021) was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 9 and 12 September 2021.[2] It marked the sixty-fifth running of the Acropolis Rally. The event was the ninth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The 2021 event was based in the town of Lamia in Central Greece and contested over fifteen special stages totalling 292.19 km (181.56 mi) in competitive distance.[1]

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the reigning rally winners.[3] However, they did not defend their titles as Latvala retired from the competition.[4] Volkswagen Motorsport, the team they drove for in 2013, when Acropolis Rally held a World Rally Championship event last time, were the defending manufacturers' winners, but they did not defend their title neither when Volkswagen retired from the championship at the end of 2016.[5] Robert Kubica and Maciek Baran were the reigning rally winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not defend their titles since Kubica was competing the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.[6]

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the overall rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturer's winners.[7] In the World Rally Championship-2 category, Andreas Mikkelsen won the class with his new co-driver Elliott Edmondson.[8] In the World Rally Championship-3 category, Yohan Rossel and Alexandre Coria finished first in the class.[9] However, they were disqualified from the results after the rally as the front subframe on their Citroën C3 Rally2 was found to be overweight during the post-event scrutineering. The polish crew of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak subsequently became the WRC-3 winners.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Itinerary Acropolis Rally Greece 2021". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. ^ "WRC adds Acropolis Rally Greece to 2021 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Jari-Matti Latvala wins 2013 Acropolis Rally". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Latvala named team principal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ^ Evans, David (2 November 2016). "Volkswagen confirms it will leave the WRC at the end of 2016". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Final results Acropolis Rally 2013". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Masterful Rovanperä bags Greece win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  8. ^ "WRC2: Mikkelsen pips team-mate on final day". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  9. ^ "WRC3: Rossel takes Acropolis win despite late drama". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  10. ^ "WRC3 winner Rossel disqualified from Acropolis". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.