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Acropolis Rally

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Acropolis Rally

The Acropolis Rally of Greece (Greek: Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually during the Greek hot summer period. The rally is known for its harsh roads and its temperatures.

The Acropolis Rally has been held since 1951 by the Greek Motorsports Organization Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA), making it one of the longest-standing competitions in world rallying. Many world renown drivers have won this event including Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, among others.

Due to the nature of the race, with a mix of rough, twisty, fast mountain stages and coupled with blistering heat and choking dust, the Acropolis Rally is one of the toughest on the European and World Rally circuits. The cars used in the race must be built with extra sturdiness in order to cope with the fast but rock-strewn stages. Drivers and co-drivers also have to contend with the pounding terrain and high summer temperatures which often reached 50 °C within the cockpit. Many drivers rate the event as a test of skill, patience, bravery and endurance in the past, going as far as comparing the Acropolis with the infamous Safari Rally.

In August 2020, rumours started to emerge about the possible return of the rally to the World Rally Championship. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assured that the government was ready to support the organizers financially. In late December of the same year, the Hellenic Ministry of Sport agreed with the Organizing Committee for Motorsport to revive the Acropolis Rally.

In March 2021, it was officially announced that the Acropolis Rally of Gods would return for the 2021 World Rally Championship, taking place in September of the same year, with Lamia as the host city.

The Acropolis Rally started out as a marathon/endurance type event back in the early 1950s. When the rally became part of the World Rally Championship after 1973, the crews had to face up to 800 competitive kilometers, in some of the most gruelling stages and conditions imaginable. This trip involved locations all over Greece up to the late 1980s, such as the more known Kalambaka and Meteora, stages near Mount Olympus, Attica, Central Greece, and even down south in the Peloponnese. The traditional start always took place under the legendary Acropolis in Athens, and the finish ceremony was carried out in the Panathenaic stadium.

With rallies ever so shrinking due to the new demands of the World Rally Championship and transitioning to "sprint" type events, the Acropolis Rally followed suit, basing the whole rally in certain areas and using stages nearby. The classic rally headquarters in the 1990s and early 2000s were the cities of Lamia and Itea.

In 2005, the rally headquarters and the service park moved to the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. In the 2007 edition, the rally headquarters and the service park moved to the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre. In 2008, the headquarters where situated at the Tatoi military airport, and that was the last time since that the rally was based in Attica, and that special stages were used in that area. In 2009 the rally headquarters and the service park were moved to Loutraki near the Corinth Canal, with stages in Argolis and Corinthia used for the rally. For the 2016 ERC Season, the event returned to Lamia. The 2026 edition will be held again in Loutraki.

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