As ever, scorching temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius and rock strewn and highly-abrasive gravel roads make this the most gruelling of the FIA WRC and a number of potential winners joined the retirement list - including Championship leader Sébastien Loeb and his Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo. Sordo was able to restart and finished 12th.

Loeb crashed in stage seven and Sordo stopped in stage nine with a broken wheel after hitting a rock. For Loeb this was his first retirement since the 2008 Swedish Rally and only his third since 2006.

Sébastien Ogier salvaged some of Citroen's normally consistent form with an impressive drive in his Junior Team C4 WRC, earning the 25 year old Frenchman and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia a career-best second place overall.
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila set fastest time on the opening stage but later went off the road in stage six, losing almost four minutes and dropping to 11th. A determined but no risks fight-back rewarded the two Finns with third place and maximum manufacturer points for the BP Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford. Ford has now reduced Citroen's lead to 15 points and Hirvonen has closed to within seven points of Loeb.

"I drove a clever rally and my plan worked perfectly, with no mistakes and no punctures," said 28-year-old Hirvonen. "I knew that if we finished the rally without problems then we would be high in the order and that was the case. The key to success was to stay on the road and be cautious rather than drive flat out all the way. The car was amazing all weekend, especially the last stage which was so rough. I was fortunate to have such a large lead that I was able to drive steadily. We're back in the championship fight and the final five rallies of the year will be exciting."

The Cumbria-based Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team of Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin, Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud both retired from the event but were able to restart under SupeRally rules and claim manufacturer points. Wilson's rally was curtailed on stage two by total loss of oil pressure but he eventually finished in 14th place, one ahead of the Norwegian pairing who hit a rock while avoiding Sordo's stricken car.

Norway's Petter Solberg and Welshman Phil Mills were up to second overall on Saturday when the left-hand front damper broke and punched it way through the bonnet of their independently entered Citroen Xsara near the end of stage 11.

Amazingly they completed the whole of the final stage and the road section that followed but incurred eight minutes of penalty time for late arrival into service. Petter insisted he was prepared to carry on but later was forced to concede to insurmountable problems after an inspection revealed his car had a damaged chassis and gearbox, in addition to the more obvious problem of the broken strut mount.
"It's not giving up - it's just that there's too much damage," Solberg told wrc.com. "The sump guard was hitting the ground for a long time and that's bent a shaft inside the gearbox and damaged a chassis leg. We might have been able to repair it but I have only one car. If we carry on tomorrow we might get seventh or eighth, but we might not be able to start Poland."
Solberg said he was anticipating a final day fight with Mikko Hirvonen when disaster struck. "I was ready to beat Mikko," he said. "We were ten seconds up on him [on SS11] when it went wrong. Second on the road tomorrow would have been perfect."

Citroen Junior Team members Conrad Rautenbach and Lancashire's Daniel Barritt were fifth after a titanic last day battle with Munchi's Ford team driver Frederica Villagra, who finished 11.5 seconds ahead.

Local driver Lambros Athanassoulas (Skoda Fabia Super 2000) won the Production-WRC category in ninth place overall. His nearest rival, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza N14) was 10th and maintains his lead in the Production WRC.

In the league tables of fastest stage times Latvala and Russian youngster Evegny Novikov each won four, Hirvonen 2, Henning Solberg, Matthew Wilson, Mads Ostberg, Dani Sordo and Sébastien Ogier with one each. 15 of the 17 stages ran; two were cancelled.
From 45 starters there were 33 classified finishers.

For news and results from Acropolis Rally of Greece, the seventh event in the 12-round 2009 FIA World Rally Championship, visit: http://www.acropolisrally.gr/

For all the latest news, video clips, audio, etc, from the FIA World Rally Championship go to; http://www.wrc.com/

WRC Manufacturer Team websites;

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; http://www.bpfordwrc.com/

Citroën Total World Rally Team; http://www.citroen-wrc.com/

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team; http://www.stobartmotorsport.com/

Munchi's Ford World Rally Team: http://www.villagraracing.com.ar/

Other WRC websites;

Pirelli - WRC; http://www.pirellityre.com/web/motorsport/rally/wrc/default.page

The next and eighth round of the FIA WRC is Rally Poland, 26th to 28th August.
For news; http://www.rallypoland.pl/

The 12th and final round of the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship is Wales Rally GB starting in Cardiff on Thursday 22nd October.

Ends.