2026 WRC Round 8, Acropolis Rally Greece — Saturday: Neuville leads Ogier by just 4.1 seconds

After Saturday’s six special stages at Acropolis Rally Greece, Neuville continues to lead with a time of 2 hours 40 minutes 18.7 seconds, just 4.1 seconds ahead of Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta has climbed from sixth on Friday to third, 2 minutes 17.0 seconds behind the leader. The route runs through the Peloponnese west of Loutraki, featuring both new stages and roads not used in the WRC since 2013. Loose rocks and tyre damage have left both the fight for victory and the positions further back unresolved. Four stages remain on Sunday, including the concluding Power Stage.

The morning’s four stages totalled 74.08 kilometres, which crews had to complete on the same set of tyres—the rally’s longest competitive distance between tyre changes. Ogier was fastest on the first and fourth stages, reducing his Friday deficit of 9.7 seconds to 3.7 seconds by midday. Neuville took back 7.1 seconds on the second pass through Ghymno in the afternoon, seemingly opening the gap again, only for Ogier to regain 6.7 seconds on the day’s final stage, Menalo Mt. With just 4.1 seconds separating them at the finish, any loss of tyre pressure or stop to change a wheel could decide the winner.

Katsuta began chasing the cars ahead with consistent stage pace from the morning, making up positions within two stages and eventually moving into provisional third. Having missed out on a podium at his home rally in Japan because of tyre problems on the opening day, avoiding major damage on Greece’s rougher roads has direct value in his pursuit of second place in the championship. With more than two minutes separating Katsuta from Ogier, Sunday’s more realistic objective is to protect his podium position and chase additional points, rather than recover the gap to the leading pair on outright pace.

Evans was only seventh after opening the road on Friday, but began climbing the order on Saturday as road conditions improved, reaching fifth at one point and closing on fourth. An impact caused a puncture on the final stage, forcing the crew to stop and change a wheel. He dropped back to seventh, 4 minutes 43.1 seconds behind Neuville. As the championship leader, his losses in Greece extend beyond the time lost on a single stage: they also affect whether he can score enough points on Sunday to maintain his advantage over Katsuta. Pajari, who also lost time stopping and changing a wheel on Friday, rose to sixth on Saturday, just 4.8 seconds ahead of Evans.

Solberg went off the road and retired on Friday’s final stage, then restarted on Saturday after repairs to his car. He had a largely complete day’s running but sits provisionally 21st overall. The restart rules have allowed him to continue competing and pursue Sunday points, but cannot erase the time lost through failing to complete stages the previous day. Armstrong is also down the order after major time losses on Friday. Sesks received a time penalty that day over an issue with his service departure time, meaning the official leg classification differed from the provisional order recorded at the end of the stages.

Hyundai’s Fourmaux, Neuville and Sordo are all in the top-eight battle, but their circumstances differ: Neuville has maintained his position in the fight for victory, Fourmaux received an additional one-minute penalty for a seat belt infringement in a subsequent ruling, and Sordo is fighting back after multiple tyre problems. McErlean has retained his place near the front and is provisionally fourth in the official classification at the end of Saturday. With subsequent rulings by the rally officials capable of changing the midfield order, Saturday’s cumulative results should be based on the official classification after penalties have been applied, while still clearly recording the incidents the crews actually encountered during the day.

The final day features two passes each through Aghii Theodori and Loutraki, with the second Loutraki run serving as the Power Stage. Ogier is capable of taking the lead with one quick stage, but sharp rocks on Greece’s mountain roads are more likely to change the outcome than on a typical short sprint. Neuville must also maintain an attacking pace to protect his 4.1-second advantage. Katsuta, Evans and Pajari must consider Sunday’s separate points allocation too, and cannot completely sacrifice their final-day pace for their overall rally positions. This is the narrowest gap in the fight for victory at this year’s Greek round ahead of the final day.

Rally1 cumulative standings after Saturday’s stages