WRC
Acropolis Rally: Chris Atkinson SS1 notes
ATKINSON SHARES IN A PIECE OF MOTORSPORT HISTORY Australian Chris Atkinson helped form a part of motorsport history at the Acropolis Rally of Greece last night by competing in the first Super Special Stage in the World Rally Championship held ...
Published: Jun 24, 2005, 7:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
ATKINSON SHARES IN A PIECE OF MOTORSPORT HISTORY
Australian Chris Atkinson helped form a part of motorsport history at the Acropolis Rally of Greece last night by competing in the first Super Special Stage in the World Rally Championship held inside an Olympic Stadium aboard his Subaru Impreza WRC2005.
After many months of planning and six days of non stop construction, including the placing of a dual layer of asphalt covering 9000sqm, it was the high tech WRC cars rather than Olympic athletes who held centre stage at one of the most historic stadiums in the world.
In front of a capacity crowd of 50,000 the 91 competitors were paired against each other for two circulations around the tight 1.2km circuit which followed the French layout of the Stade de France, where last year's Race of Champions took place.
Courtesy of his seeding for this weekend's Acropolis Rally of Greece Atkinson was joined by Italian Gigi Galli to be the first pair of drivers to contest the stage.
"Before we got in the car you could hear the crowd cheering, it was an amazing feeling," said Atkinson.
"The noise of the engine cut out most of the atmosphere and we had to concentrate on the job at hand, but it looked like the fans where having a blast.
"To compete in a stage of the World Rally Championship inside a venue that is as iconic as an Olympic stadium is a real buzz."
With very little grip on the freshly laid surface added to the fact that Atkinson and his co-driver Glenn Macneall were pioneer on the circuit being amongst the first pair of drivers to tackle the tricky layout the time set by the Australian pair was the 19th fastest.
"By being a part in the first pair of drivers to go around the circuit at high speed only we didn't want to take too many risks as the rally could easily be lost rather than one in a stage such as this," said Atkinson.
"Now we have got the super special stage out of the way it is time to get down to business in the forests and aim for a solid run over the next three days to get a good result on the board."
Defending World Champion Sebastien Loeb set the fastest time on the Super Special Stage to take a narrow overnight lead from privateer Mark Higgins and Markko Martin. Atkinson's Subaru team-mates Petter Solberg and Stephane Sarrazin set the fifth and 20th fastest respectively.
The Acropolis Rally of Greece continues this afternoon (Australian time) with the continuation of the opening leg on the twisty mountain stages close to the historic town of Delphi.
-car-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Acropolis Rally: Round eight preview
Next article Acropolis Rally pre-event press conference
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Stéphane Sarrazin
Sarrazin signed to partner Chadwick at Veloce XE team
Extreme E
Extreme E
Sarrazin signed to partner Chadwick at Veloce XE team
Sarrazin convinced about Ginetta LMP1 car's potential
WEC
WEC
Sarrazin convinced about Ginetta LMP1 car's potential
Ghiotto, Smith headline eight-man Ginetta test roster
WEC
WEC
Ghiotto, Smith headline eight-man Ginetta test roster
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
8 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
9 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe