The team principal of M-Sport Ford, Richard Millener, says that his team showed in Greece they are capable of fighting for success considering the second day of Acropolis Rally.
Pierre-Louis Loubet was the best M-Sport driver as he finished fourth overall, but he was leading Acropolis Rally over Sebastien Loeb at the end of Stage 5. However, he dropped to second place at the end of Friday after suffering small power steering issues while he dropped seventh on Saturday due to the fact that he had a front left puncture in Stage 9.
On the other hand, Sebastien Loeb was leading Acropolis Rally at the end of Stage 4, but he lost his lead over Loubet at the end of Stage 5. However, he took back the lead of the rally at the end of Friday, but he was forced to retire before the start of Stage 9 due to alternator issues. Finally, he and M-Sport Ford decided to retire his Puma for the rest of the rally.
Furthermore, Craig Breen finished fifth overall and gave valuable points to M-Sport Ford for the championship as Loubet can only score points for himself. However, it must be mentioned that the Irishman dropped more than two minutes on Friday morning as he stopped in Stage 4 to change a wheel.
Finally, Gus Greensmith finished outside the top ten as he was forced to retire in Stage 11 due to a mechanical issue, but he was able to restart on the final day of the rally under the regulations of Rally2.
"What can I say, firstly the team never gave up coming into this rally and Friday proved why", Millener said.
"We showed we are here to fight the others and we are more than capable of fighting for success.
"Loeb is simply fantastic and Pierre was the star of the rally.
"Craig and Gus were strong throughout and Jourdan was as committed to the challenge of WRC as always.
"OK, we didn’t get the results we wanted but it was a tough weekend for all competitors.
"Congratulations to Hyundai on a dominant rally, they really deserved that, but we will be back to fight again in New Zealand and we are determined in knowing we can achieve success".
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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