Rocky roads and sweltering temperatures all wrapped up in the blanket of a World Rally Championship classic.
Welcome to Acropolis Rally Greece week for 2025 – three months earlier than last year.
Beyond that, here’s everything you need to know about the Acropolis:
Entry list
Total 68 crews
12 Rally1
36 Rally2 (33 WRC2)
16 Rally3 (9 Junior WRC)
Rally1
The same 12 drivers who competed in Sardinia will start the Acropolis
There are no changes in the Rally1 entry from the previous round in Sardinia.
That means Toyota retains the services of its eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, who slots in alongside points leader (and therefore first on the road) Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä as points scorers for the main squad, with Sami Pajari registered for TGR WRT 2 and Takamoto Katsuta not scoring.
Hyundai’s lineup has been the same all year, with world champions Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak driving alongside Adrien Fourmaux.
And in the M-Sport fold, Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean have Mãrtiņš Sesks for company once more with Jourdan Serderidis in a fourth Puma.
WRC2
Just like in Portugal, this year’s WRC2 heavyweights Yohan Rossel, Oliver Solberg and the newly-wed Gus Greensmith are all in action – making it a vital event for all.
But don’t expect them to be the only contenders. Jan Solans, Sardinia winner Roberto Daprà, long-time Sardinia leader Emil Lindholm, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Pierre-Louis Loubet, Robert Virves and Georg Linnamäe are just some of the other names who could also be in the mix.
Solberg is one of the expected contenders in Greece - and the championship
Nikolay Gryazin will again compete but not for championship points with his season poised to gather pace in the second half.
Junior WRC
With Taylor Gill and Mille Johansson tied at the top of the points as Junior WRC returns in Greece, naturally attention will be on the pair.
But on a rally as rough as Acropolis, don’t expect it to be so straightforward.
Karem Kazaz, Eamonn Kelly, Ali Türkkan, Diego Domínguez and Max Smart could all be in the mix too.
A host of local Greek drivers join the Junior WRC bunch in the WRC3 class.
Itinerary
Tarzan is back! The classic test features as part of a meaty ‘Super Sunday’ at 61.5 miles – comfortably the longest of the season so far.
Elsewhere, the rally begins with an Athens superspecial on Thursday before an atypical leg on Friday featuring just a remote service in Loutraki.
That equally famous stage runs once, sandwiched by two passes of Aghii Theodori before remote service, and then three more single-pass stages: Thiva, Stiri and Elatia.
Saturday’s leg follows a more traditional cloverleaf format with two runs of a Pavliani-Karoutes-Inohori loop, while Smovoko joins Tarzan in a punishing Sunday.
