Gearbox trouble on the powerstage made it a stressful end to an otherwise serene Acropolis
Photography by Hyundai
Words by Luke Barry
There were no celebrations, barely even a smile. How could that be when Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja had just delivered Hyundai its first World Rally Championship victory of the season?
The clue was in the split times – and the noise inside Tänak’s car.
Up until the 17th and final stage, Acropolis Rally Greece had been a breeze for Tänak. Stage win after stage win was reeled off as if they were nothing.
He even led the Super Sunday standings heading into the powerstage, such was his level of confidence.
But as the time gradually began to seep away through that final Tarzan test, it became clear something was amiss. A distracted, and hurried, Tänak arrived at the stop control having won the rally on the timesheets, but the job was far from done.
He didn’t get out to celebrate, because he was scared there would be nothing to celebrate. Why?
“Gearbox problem.”
Out the car and onto the obligatory podium celebrations, Tänak took part but he looked anxious.
He knew his win would only be safe if he successfully completed the 33.5-mile journey back to Lamia in time.
Mercifully, he did. But it wasn’t without its stresses.
Tänak told DirtFish: “I was very worried to be honest. In the stage, first I understood that third gear got very noisy, so I understood that this one broke. And then the first few kilometers, the other gears at least were clean, but then soon, let’s say, all the gearbox got very noisy.
“And then, let’s say, we didn’t have too much confidence anymore to finish the stage. But yeah, then we finished the stage, but then again, you know, you didn’t have too much confidence to get here. So let’s say it was definitely far too much stress to win the rally.”
Which was ironic, given how stress-free the rest of the weekend had been.
The irony was the entire rest of Tänak's Acropolis was stress-free, not stressful
“I mean the clear strategy was just to keep the air in the tires, that was the main thing, and to manage the tire wear and so on and so on,” Tänak said.
“But I would say we did everything perfectly. We pushed in the sections where it was smooth, where it was, let’s say, a small risk, and these sections we gained the time, and others where the conditions were rougher, you know, we held back.
“So yeah, that was the key for this weekend.”
The win – Tänak’s first since October’s Central European Rally – edged him just 12 points shy of championship leader Elfyn Evans.
“We do our best,” he added. “I mean for sure the chassis upgrades have helped us, or at least helped myself, you know. I feel better in the car.
“I mean definitely we’d like to do a couple of other things. We haven’t been on this car in any fast rally yet, so obviously this is experience we are missing at the moment, but let’s see if we do some testing next week and then we see.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Acropolis Rally Greece, Acropolis Rally Greece 2025, Ott Tanak, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date June 29, 2025 DirtFish
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