The thrilling battle for victory on the Acropolis Rally took another twist when Sebastien Loeb beat Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier through Sunday’s second stage.
Despite being hamstrung by running first on the road, Loeb bettered Ogier’s time by two-tenths of a second to retake the lead of the world championship qualifier by 0.1s.
Mikko Hirvonen strengthened his grip on third place by edging Petter Solberg on the stage. The Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver is now 14.4 clear of the Norwegian privateer and 14.7s behind new leader Loeb.
Jari-Matti Latvala was fastest of all once again in his Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta. The Finn is recovering from time lost on the opening two days of the event and is making the most of his lowly road position to set some impressive times.
Russian Evgeny Novikov, who restarted on Saturday under SupeRally regulations was third quickest in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.
Crews are now heading back to service in Loutraki. Three stages remain before this afternoon’s finish in the seaside town 90 kilometres west of the Greek capital Athens.
Standings after SS15:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 3h41m41.6s |
| 02 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | +0.1s |
| 03 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +14.7s |
| 04 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +29.1s |
| 05 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +4m44.3s |
| 06 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +6m05.5s |
| 07 | K. RAIKKONEN / K. LINDSTRÖM | Citroën DS3 WRC | +7m37.4s |
| 08 | J. HANNINEN / M. MARKKULA | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +10m00.4s |
| 09 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +13m06.9s |
| 10 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +13m37.6s |
| 11 | B. SOUSA / A. COSTA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +14m16.0s |
| 12 | F. TURÁN / G. ZSIROS | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +15m29.7s |
| 13 | H. GASSNER JR / K. WUSTENHAGEN | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +16m46.1s |
| 14 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +16m49.7s |
| 15 | M. PROKOP / J. TOMÁNEK | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +19m02.6s |