Manos and Kostas Stefanis’ adventure at the Acropolis Rally concluded the best possible way, as they in 35th place of the overally with the Ford Fiesta Rally3 of M-Sport Poland.
At the same time, they were 11th in WRC3 and 6th among the Greek crews.
The Traction Rally Team crew’s task in the 10th round of the World Rally Championship was not easy, as this year’s event was admittedly the most difficult in recent years.
The schedule of third and final day (Sunday, September 8) included 3 special stages (Oinohori – 17.47 km, Eleftherohori X 2 – 18.29 km) with a total length of 54,05 racing kilometers, which completed the “menu” of 15 special stages of the three-day race, which had a total length of 305,30 racing kilometers.
Having avoided problems during the first two, particularly demanding days, Manos and Kostas Stefanis knew that they had to maintain the same strategy, with the protection of the car as their main focus.
With this in mind, they were quite conservative in the opening special stage of the day (Oinohori), while the first pass of the special stage Eleftherohori was cancelled for them, due to a small exit of a car in front.
Thus, only the second pass of the famous but very rough this year, Eleftherohori, which was also the Power Stage, remained in order for the duo to reach, for the first time together, the finish ramp.
Which is what happened, with Manos Stefanis reaching the finish of the most iconic Greek rally for the first time. At the same time, Kostas Stefanis sealed in the best way his 30th participation in 49 years – a fact that put him in the top two of the world’s competitors with such a long racing career* – as he climbed the finish ramp for the 16th time!
As is always the case, finishing the Acropolis Rally is a great success for any Greek crew, while this particular achievement becomes even more significant this year, due to the harshness of the special stages, which brought many retirements.
See you next June, for the 2025 Acropolis Rally!
The participation of Manos and Kostas Stefanis is sponsored by Coral S.A. – Shell Licensee.
*Statistical data from www.ewrc-results.com/
Quotes
Manos Stefanis: “I am very happy that we managed to finish the Acropolis Rally. I grew up in an environment where this rally was the event of the year, so to be on the finish ramp with Kostas as my co-driver, in this anniversary event for him, is very special. This year’s event was hard and tough, but I think that given my racing abstinence, we did our best, constantly knowing what we needed to do to get to the finish. The Ford Fiesta Rally3 was excellent throughout the rally. Many thanks to Coral S.A. – Shell Licensee, without whom this participation would not have been possible, and to M-Sport Poland for the excellent car. Of course, I couldn’t thank Kostas enough, not only for this Acropolis, but for everything we have been through so far.”
Kostas Stefanis: “Returning to the finish ramp of the Acropolis Rally always leaves a very sweet taste. But this year in particular, it has a special significance, as it coincides with the celebration of 30 participations in 49 years, so my feelings are very strong. In addition, it is our first finish with Manos and we really wanted this, as in previous attempts, some misfortune has always denied us this opportunity. The rally really reminded me of the Acropolis of the 70s, but with the right strategy and determination, we made it! I would also like to thank Coral S.A. – Shell Licensee for their support, as well as M-Sport Poland for the excellent Ford Fiesta Rally3, which did not encounter any major problems throughout the three days. See you all soon!”
Photos: Rallypixels
