The Hyundai driven by the Belgian Thierry Neuville allowed him to take the lead in the Acropolis Rally on Saturday morning. This allowed him to capitalize on the difficulties that Sébastien Loeb (Ford), who had been in the lead since Friday evening, and Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota), who is currently in the lead for the world championship, were having (WRC). Everything started to change when the second day began, and it started with a scratch time for the Estonian Ott Tanak (Hyundai) in SS8, which was the longest stage of the rally. After that, everything started to shift (33 km). Then, following this SS8, on the link course towards SS9, Loeb pulled over to the side of the road to attempt to replace the belt that drives his alternator.
It was Rovanpera, who was only 9th on Saturday morning one minute behind Loeb, who initially parked in the unique, rear of his Toyota being robbed of a wing. Then, they concluded in slow motion, six minutes behind the author of the best time. SS9 was scheduled immediately after. There are still four specials that need to be played on Saturday (SS10 to SS13) in the hills of Greece, and a four-way match is beginning to take shape between two drivers for Hyundai, Neuville, and Tanak, who are in second place 4.4 seconds behind the Belgian, and two drivers for Toyota, Esapekka Lappi of Finland and Elfyn Evans of Wales.
After running off the road on Stage 9, the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet, who was in second place behind Loeb on Saturday morning, fell dramatically in the general classification. However, he was still able to complete this stage despite having a significant issue with the front of his Ford Puma that was provided by the M-Sport team. At the SS9 stop point, he remained silent and then pulled over to change the wheel on the left front of his vehicle.