Sébastien Ogier has moved up the road order one spot (to second) for Acropolis, but is still targeting the win
Photography by Toyota
Words by Alasdair Lindsay, Head of Digital Strategy
Sébastien Ogier is not a man short on confidence. Eight World Rally Championship titles says everything. But even on current form he appears imperious: three wins and a second place in his four starts this year would make him the title favorite, were he not a part-timer.
In Sardinia, he started third on the road and won. This week he starts one place higher, with only championship leader Elfyn Evans to clear away loose rocks from the surface of Acropolis Rally Greece’s dusty stages.
Ogier isn’t fazed. At all. Why would he be? His numerous title successes were built on bringing home big results while running first on the road during Europe’s mid-season gravel rounds.
Suffice to say his Sardinia win has empowered him. Running second on the road isn’t causing him to lose any sleep.
“The challenges in Greece are not so different [to Sardinia], with high temperatures and a rough and rocky surface, and hopefully we can be strong once more in these conditions,” said Ogier.
Ogier's in a confident mood heading to the third gravel event in succession
“It could again be a challenging Friday for the team with our road positions, and this time I’ll be running second so it might be even harder to win this one, but I’m never afraid of any challenge so let’s see what we can do.”
Ogier’s record on the Acropolis is a mixed bag. He scored his first WRC podium in Greece in 2009 with Citroën’s Junior team and won the event in 2011, but has only scored one podium in his five appearances since his sole win over a decade ago.
At the opposite end of the spectrum for Toyota when it comes to road order is Sami Pajari. Starting seventh on the road, he’s in an ideal place – and has been reminding himself he can push harder this year when stepping up from Rally2 to Rally1.
“Like with Sardinia, I have some good memories of winning WRC2 there last year,” said Pajari, who was running as high as fourth place in Sardinia until punctures and technical gremlins demoted him to seventh at the finish.
Is Pajari a dark horse in Greece?
“At the same time, on rough rallies like these you need to be very careful in the lower categories to look after the car, whereas the Rally1 car can handle a lot more, so you need to learn to trust it and get used to being able to push harder.”
Since its return to the WRC calendar in 2021 Greece has been evenly contested by Toyota and Hyundai, with both marques scoring two wins apiece.
Kalle Rovanperä claimed both for Toyota and Thierry Neuville both for Hyundai.
Words:Alasdair Lindsay
Tags: Acropolis Rally Greece, Acropolis Rally Greece 2025, Sébastien Ogier, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date June 25, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/fyc6vC6A-OGIER06ITA25tb321-780x520.jpg June 25, 2025
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