Latvian driver, 21 year old Ralfs Sirmacis has won the SEAJETS Acropolis Rally, third round of FIA ERC. It was the first time he competed in...
Latvian driver, 21 year old Ralfs Sirmacis has won the SEAJETS Acropolis Rally, third round of FIA ERC. It was the first time he competed in a R5 spec machine, and managed to pull out a impressive win under his belt. In 2015 season, he was runner-up in ERC Junior class. He took the lead by winning the opening test and then he never looked back, as his rivals hit problems it was all his rally to lose. Greek star Lambros Athanassoulas finshed second, his best ERC result to date, but it came with the cost of some drama filled final stages. Jaromir Tarabus rounded off the podium finishers, as it was all Skoda Fabia R5 lockout.
Leg two saw drivers tackle six special stages, including mammoth 33.86 kilometer stage. Alexey Lukyanuk was leading Ralfs Sirmacis by just two seconds before the start of the day, as his penalty was taken back. But straight away Sirmacis was too fast for the likes of Lukyanuk and he pulled a manageable gap. But the worst was yet to come for Lukyanuk, in SS9, he damaged the suspension of his Fiesta R5 and dropped down the leader board. It was a simple task for Sirmacis, just cross the finish line, which he did and secured his maiden win in ERC.
Local star Lambros Athanassoulas finished in second. His career best result. But before this he had his own story to tell. On the penultimate stage he had a comfortable gap of 35.6 seconds over Tarabus. But in the final stage he was stuck behind a slower car and was in tears at the finish line. Somehow he hold on to the second place by just one tenth of a second. But later he was given back the lost time. Jaromir Tarabus finished third. He was in a heated battle with Athanassoulas and finally had to settle for third. Estonian Raul Jeets was in fourth, making it a Skoda top four lockout. Wojciech Chuchała rounded off the top five finishers. Hard charging Kajetan Kajetanowicz managed to finish eight overall, after he rolled his Fiesta on the very first stage. He won five out of six stages on leg two
ERC 2 honors went to Pole Wojciech Chuchała, driving a Subaru Impreza. He made it three victories from three rounds. Murat Bostanci took victory in ERC 3 class. Piloting a Fiesta R2T, he won by over two minutes. Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy went to the rally winner Ralfs Sirmacis for his flat out driver throughout the rally.
Final Classification
| Pos. | No. |   | Driver / Co-driver Vehicle | Pos. | SS time Penalty | Total time | Diff.Leader Diff.Prev. |
| 1 | 11 |  1 | Sirmacis Ralfs / Šimins Arturs Škoda Fabia R5 | RC2 1 | 02:53:12.5 | 02:53:12.5 | 00:00:00.0 00:00:00.0 |
| 2 | 9 | 2 | Athanassoulas L. / Panagiotounis E. Škoda Fabia R5 | RC2 2 | 02:55:22.8 | 02:55:22.8 | 00:02:10.3 00:02:10.3 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | Tarabus J. / Trunkát Daniel Škoda Fabia R5 | RC2 3 | 02:55:54.9 | 02:55:54.9 | 00:02:42.4 00:00:32.1 |
| 4 | 6 | 4 | Jeets Raul / Toom Andrus Škoda Fabia R5 | RC2 4 | 02:58:54.4 | 02:58:54.4 | 00:05:41.9 00:02:59.5 |
| 5 | 17 | 6 | Chuchała W. / Dymurski Daniel Subaru Impreza STI | RC2 5 | 03:01:32.4 | 03:01:32.4 | 00:08:19.9 00:02:38.0 |
| 6 | 10 | 5 | Kołtun J. / Pleskot I. Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 6 | 03:01:23.6 00:01:00.0 | 03:02:23.6 | 00:09:11.1 00:00:51.2 |
| 7 | 8 | 8 | Kasperczyk T. / Syty Damian Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 7 | 03:03:52.9 | 03:03:52.9 | 00:10:40.4 00:01:29.3 |
| 8 | 1 | 9 | Kajetanowicz K. / Baran Jarosław Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 8 | 03:06:00.6 00:01:10.0 | 03:07:10.6 | 00:13:58.1 00:03:17.7 |
| 9 | 19 | 11 | Jacquet Rios J. / Vargas Peña H. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 9 | 03:13:22.1 | 03:13:22.1 | 00:20:09.6 00:06:11.5 |
| 10 | 2 | 12 | Lukyanuk Alexey / Kapustin Roman Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 10 | 03:13:18.0 00:00:10.0 | 03:13:28.0 | 00:20:15.5 00:00:05.9 |
It was some heated action from Acropolis, finally rookie managed to outrun the veterans. Thats all for now, for more news follow us by subscribing at the bottom of the page. Until then, Happy Rallying!
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