Estonian Ott Tanak took Hyundai’s first win of the season in Greece’s Acropolis Rally on Sunday despite a gearbox scare in the final stage.
The victory on the rough gravel roads and in sweltering heat also ended Toyota’s unbeaten run with Sebastien Ogier, winner of the previous two rounds, finishing second and 32.8 seconds behind.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux completed the podium.
Tanak closed the gap on Toyota’s championship leader Elfyn Evans, who finished fourth, to 12 points. Ogier, who is running a part-time campaign, is nine points behind his teammate.
“I was very worried, to be honest,” Tanak said of the final gearbox drama. “In the last stage, third gear got very noisy and I understood that this one broke.
“Soon, the whole gearbox got very noisy and we didn’t have much confidence that we would finish the stage and get back here. It was definitely far too much stress to win a rally.” REUTERS
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