Apart from the stadium tests, all the remaining stages are different to 2005. Some are completely new, while others have been used in a different format several years ago. The opening leg begins with a test on the very edge of Athens before heading north-west of the city. The second, and longest, day is located to the west while the final day is based on roads already used but run in the opposite direction.
Each leg comprises two loops of identical stages, split by service at the Olympic Stadium, with the super special added to the end of Sunday's itinerary. Drivers tackle 18 stages, which are at a lower altitude than in recent times and are hilly rather than mountainous, covering 355.62km in a route of 1279.29km.
Hot tip:
Pre-event it looks like the Acropolis will again be a two-horse race with
Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Gronholm equal favourites. Gronholm perhaps has the edge,
if the Focus is reliable and
if he has a change of luck. If not expect Loeb to notch up his sixth win in a row.
Last year:
Sebastien Loeb won the event in 2005 beating
Toni Gardemeister, by over 1.5 minutes. Carlos Sainz completed the podium, with Marcus Gronholm and
Mikko Hirvonen fourth and fifth respectively. Several 'works' drivers' had problems - the most notable retirements were Roman Kresta,
Chris Atkinson, Janne Tuohino and Jani Paasonen.
