Thierry Neuville Dominates Greece's Acropolis Rally: A Quest for World Championship Glory

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville took the lead in the World Championship after ending Saturday's penultimate leg of Greece's Acropolis Rally with a 53.7-second advantage. He started third, but moved ahead after competitors Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo faced setbacks. Toyota's Sebastien Ogier trails in third place.

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville is on track to extend his world championship lead after clinching the top spot during the penultimate leg of Greece's Acropolis Rally on Saturday. The Belgian driver, who started the day in third place, surged ahead following misfortunes that befell his teammates Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo during the grueling stages.

Estonian Ott Tanak led by 21.8 seconds after Friday's leg but plummeted to fourth after losing four crucial minutes due to front and rear punctures that forced him to change wheels twice. Spaniard Dani Sordo briefly took the lead but encountered a rock on stage nine, resulting in a rear tire change that cost him 50 seconds and allowed Neuville to ascend to the top.

Neuville's primary title challenger, Toyota's eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, sits in third but lags one minute and 20.9 seconds behind. Despite winning three of Saturday's six stages, the Frenchman started the weekend 27 points behind Neuville with three rounds left after Greece.

Toyota's Elfyn Evans faced further setbacks; after turbo issues on Friday, he retired following an 11th stage rollover. Neuville commented, "From the beginning, our approach was to be careful with the car when it was needed, and we somehow got through."

Neuville added, "I tried to adapt my driving style a bit in the ruts and not put the car too sideways with the risk of hitting stones. That's the only thing you can do. It's a lottery out there and we don't know what will happen. Tomorrow we have to see what the weather will be like and how hard we need to drive for the extra points. There are a lot of things we still have to manage."

Sunday features three more challenging stages on the rough and rocky gravel roads.

(With inputs from agencies.)