PERPETUATING WORLD RALLYING’S GREEK MYTH
The World Rally Championship hasn’t been the same since June 2, 2013, when the Acropolis Rally last counted as a round of the WRC.
Plenty of new or returning events have helped to fill the calendar since then – the likes of Chile, Estonia, Corsica, Croatia, Turkey, Ypres, even Monza – but none have matched theAcropolis for its challenge and sense of adventure.
Throughout its WRC tenure, punishingly rough roads, brutal temperatures and plumes of dust were a constant and the unpredictability due to the relatively high speeds meant there was never a dull moment.
Routes were tweaked year after year while host venues often changed – from the Olympic Stadium or a former military air base inAthens to a casino in Loutraki via a trotting track in Markopoulo.
Legends such as Marcus Gronholm, Juha Kankkunen, Sebastien Loeb, Colin McRae, Walter Rohrl, Carlos Sainz, Ari Vatanen and Bjorn Waldegard took their turns to win, while a few helpings of souvlaki and horiatiki salad
