Virves holds second place in Greece WRC2, Jürgenson retires

After the first full competition day of the Acropolis Rally in the World Rally Championship, Robert Virves holds second place in WRC2, 8.2 seconds behind leader Andreas Mikkelsen. Romet Jürgenson was forced to retire from the rally on the opening stage after hitting a rock.

The World Rally Championship continued this weekend in Greece with the Acropolis Rally, where Friday brought contrasting emotions for Estonian drivers, with Robert Virves showing top pace while Romet Jürgenson was forced to end his rally prematurely.

Jürgenson's disappointment

Romet Jürgenson (M-Sport Ford) hit a rock on the first speed stage of Friday's competition day, causing his car's suspension to suffer such serious damage that continuing was impossible. "I have nothing more to say, it was my fault. I apologize to the team and the sponsors. It has been a brutal year, we will try to keep fighting," Jürgenson wrote on social media.

Virves in great form

The 25-year-old Robert Virves (Škoda) started the day cautiously, achieving only 14th place in WRC2 on Thursday's city stage. But on Friday he consistently demonstrated strong pace across six stages, finishing in the top three of his class on every stage and winning one stage outright in absolute terms.

After the sixth stage, Virves even moved into the WRC2 lead when Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen lost considerable time driving in dust. Mikkelsen was later credited with that time, however, and he finished the day as WRC2 leader, 8.2 seconds ahead of the Estonian.

Overall leader Neuville

In the overall standings, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) continues to lead, with a narrow 9.7-second advantage over Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota). Third place goes to Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), 42.4 seconds behind. Virves sits 11th overall, 3 minutes and 18.3 seconds back from the leader.

The day ended poorly for Irishman Jon Armstrong (M-Sport Ford), who scored his first career stage win on the fifth stage, but a turbo failure ended his rally. Oliver Solberg (Toyota) also retired due to an accident.

Saturday will feature six stages in Greece, with the first starting at 07:54 and the last at 19:05.