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 As rough and hot rallies on Eastern Mediterranean are abundant these days, it is easy to forget that before inclusion of Cyprus and Turkey there was only one, the original, the Acropolis Rally. One of the rallies that has yet to adopt the name of the country in official name of the event, Acropolis is truly one of the classic events in the series.
Greece is cradle of western civilization, home to some of the greatest philosophers mankind has known. The rally itself is complete opposite of these academic values, rough and demanding. At times stages have been described even worse than those of Safari Rally and since that event was dropped, Acropolis has inherited the questionable fame of being roughest rally on WRC calendar.
In the old days, rally used to start from the foot of Acropolis hill in Athens where famous Parthenon Temple resides and from where the name of the rally derives. That has now been abandoned as stages are in central Greece and long liaison for the sake of ceremonial start was deemed unnecessary. Hellenic heritage runs strong nevertheless, giving the event special flavour.
Due to demanding nature of the stages, for a long event was a thinking man's rally. Introduction of puncture-proof tyres in late 1980's have changed the approach and speeds on rough greek roads have increased. Curiously enough it is Colin McRae who has five wins to his name though he is not regarded as a model of self-restraint, a archtype best suited to Acropolis rally.
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| 1973:
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Therier, Jean-Luc
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Renault-Alpine A110 1800
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69.06 km/h
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| 1975:
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Rohrl, Walter
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Opel Ascona
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62.08 km/h
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| 1976:
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Kallstrom, Harry
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Datsun Violet
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82.10 km/h
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| 1977:
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Waldegard, Bjorn
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Ford Escort RS1800
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80.25 km/h
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| 1978:
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Rohrl, Walter
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Fiat 131 Abarth
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73.31 km/h
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| 1979:
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Waldegard, Bjorn
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Ford Escort RS
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69.44 km/h
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| 1980:
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Vatanen, Ari
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Ford Escort RS
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73.01 km/h
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| 1981:
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Vatanen, Ari
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Ford Escort RS
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72.13 km/h
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| 1982:
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Mouton, Michele
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Audi quattro
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74.94 km/h
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| 1983:
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Rohrl, Walter
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Lancia Rally 037
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74.67 km/h
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| 1984:
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Blomqvist, Stig
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Audi quattro A2
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74.47 km/h
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| 1985:
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Salonen, Timo
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Peugeot 205 Turbo 16
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78.45 km/h
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| 1986:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2
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78.01 km/h
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| 1987:
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Alen, Markku
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Lancia Delta HF 4WD
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72.34 km/h
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| 1988:
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Biasion, Massimo
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Lancia Delta Integrale
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74.62 km/h
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| 1989:
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Biasion, Massimo
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Lancia Delta Integrale
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78.30 km/h
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| 1990:
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Sainz, Carlos
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Toyota Celica GT-4 (ST165)
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77.04 km/h
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| 1991:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v
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80.14 km/h
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| 1992:
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Auriol, Didier
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Lancia Delta HF Integrale
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78.32 km/h
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| 1993:
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Biasion, Massimo
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Ford Escort RS Cosworth
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78.93 km/h
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| 1994:
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Sainz, Carlos
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Subaru Impreza 555
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76.17 km/h
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| 1996:
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McRae, Colin
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Subaru Impreza 555
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77.58 km/h
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| 1997:
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Sainz, Carlos
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Ford Escort WRC
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81.55 km/h
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| 1998:
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McRae, Colin
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Subaru Impreza WRC98
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82.87 km/h
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| 1999:
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Burns, Richard
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Subaru Impreza WRC99
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86.33 km/h
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| 2000:
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McRae, Colin
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Ford Focus WRC 00
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78.87 km/h
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| 2001:
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McRae, Colin
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Ford Focus RS WRC 01
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82.46 km/h
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| 2002:
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McRae, Colin
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Ford Focus RS WRC 02
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83.85 km/h
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| 2003:
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Martin, Markko
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Ford Focus RS WRC 03
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81.12 km/h
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| 2004:
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Solberg, Petter
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Subaru Impreza WRC2004
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81.07 km/h
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| 2005:
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Loeb, Sebastien
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Citroen Xsara WRC
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82.94 km/h
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| 2006:
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Gronholm, Marcus
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Ford Focus RS WRC 06
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90.24 km/h
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| 2007:
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Gronholm, Marcus
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Ford Focus RS WRC 06
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87.48 km/h
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| 2008:
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Loeb, Sebastien
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Citroen C4 WRC
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84.68 km/h
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Other events may have mountains but few can boast this spectacular scenery.
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Acropolis is known for rough stages and here is a prime example. You can hardly call that a road, can you?
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Not only rough but also uneven and bumpy, here Sainz tackles the stages.
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Driver wins
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McRae, Colin (5)
Biasion, Massimo (3)
Rohrl, Walter (3)
Sainz, Carlos (3)
Gronholm, Marcus (2)
Kankkunen, Juha (2)
Loeb, Sebastien (2)
Vatanen, Ari (2)
Waldegard, Bjorn (2)
Alen, Markku (1)
Auriol, Didier (1)
Blomqvist, Stig (1)
Burns, Richard (1)
Kallstrom, Harry (1)
Martin, Markko (1)
Mouton, Michele (1)
Salonen, Timo (1)
Solberg, Petter (1)
Therier, Jean-Luc (1)
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Manufacturer wins
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Ford (12)
Lancia (6)
Subaru (5)
Audi (2)
Citroen (2)
Peugeot (2)
Datsun (1)
Fiat (1)
Opel (1)
Renault-Alpine (1)
Toyota (1)
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