The three Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 drivers have been encouraged by the car's debut performance on rough gravel, despite the disappointment of a triple retirement.
Conditions have been far from easy on what is widely recognised as one of the most arduous rallies in the world. Temperatures have soared to 34 degrees centigrade, and many of the Acropolis competitors have already fallen by the wayside.
The Greek stages form a lunar landscape of boulders, heat, and dust which pushes every car and competitor to the limit. Today the crews completed six stages, totalling 136 competitive kilometres.

Suzuki Team Ignis Finland driver Juha Kangas proved the speed of the Ignis on gravel, when he caught fellow competitor Alexander Foss on the opening stage - despite starting a minute behind him. "The car feels incredibly good," he said. "It's easy to drive, and we were able to set a fast time without pushing too hard. This gives me a lot of encouragement for the future.
It's good to see that we can run at this pace." Incredibly, Kangas caught Foss again on the second stage - but this time the dust cloud from the car in front blinded him into a mistake. He slid off the road on a fast right hand corner and was not able to re-join. "I'm bitterly disappointed," he said. "It's a real pity as the potential is clearly there for a good result. I was heading for the top six when we retired. I'm just looking forward to the next rally now!"

Suzuki Team Ignis Japan's Kazuhiko Niwa was climbing a very steep learning curve, but was reassured by the return of his long-time co-driver Tatsuya Ideue. "I'm very excited but relaxed as well," he said. "The car gives me a lot of confidence, but these are very tricky roads. This is certainly the most challenging rally of my life."
His speed developed throughout the day, but on the last stage he was pushing hard and made a mistake. The car slithered down a bank for 10 metres, but both driver and co-driver were unhurt. "If you try hard, I suppose that can sometimes happen," said a disappointed Niwa. "It's another lesson that you learn about rallying, and the good thing about this event is that I've learnt so much for the future."

Suzuki Team Ignis Germany driver Niki Schelle also so very nearly made it to the end of the day after a promising performance, but a component in the transmission left him stranded on the final stage. "Up until that point, the car had been perfect," he said. "We are still a very new team and should still be proud of everything we have achieved up to now. The car feels great to drive and I'm sure that we have some good times ahead."
Schelle's times were quick enough to place him comfortably in the top 10, but the cause of his retirement will not be fully known until the team strip down his transmission back at base.

Suzuki team Finland manager Risto Laine said: "Of course we're all disappointed, but if rallying was easy then everybody would do it! The main thing is that we've come away from the Acropolis with a lot of knowledge that we can share for the future with the German and Japanese teams."

Times:
Stage 1 Pavliani (24.45kms)
Fastest JWRC: Duval (Ford) 21m49.1s
Kangas 22m14.3s (7th in JWRC)
Schelle 23m00.3s (16th in JWRC)
Niwa 23m42.1s (20th in JWRC)

Stage 2 Karoutes (18.89kms)
Fastest JWRC: Carlsson (Ford) 13m09.3s
Schelle 13m26.8s (7th in JWRC)
Niwa 14m21.3s (19th in JWRC)

Stage 3 Paleohori (20.52kms)
Fastest JWRC: Duval (Ford) 15m54.3s
Schelle: 16m37.5s (13th in JWRC)
Niwa: 17m15.5s (18th in JWRC)

Stage 4 Rengini (25.04kms)
Fastest JWRC: Duval (Ford) 21m53.9s
Schelle: 22m33.4s (7th in JWRC)
Niwa: 23m54.9s (14th in JWRC)

Stage 5 Inohori (23.00kms)
Fastest JWRC: Stenshorne (Opel) 20m00.5s
Schelle 20m21.3s
Niwa 21m03.3s