Also new for 2008 is the start ceremony at the famous Acropolis, high above the city and for many years the traditional start location.
The route itself is broadly similar to 2007. The opening leg heads north and west of Athens, and contains the only all-new test of the rally. The second day is the longest of the event and takes competitors west of the city, passing close to the Corinth Canal. The final day is again north-west of the city before the finish ceremony at Tatoi. Drivers tackle 20 tests covering approximately 339.94 kilometres in a total route of 1311.32 kilometres.
Last year:
Marcus Gronholm won the Acropolis Rally last year, having taken over the lead from
Chris Atkinson towards the end of day one.
The Finn then proceeded to increase his advantage on Saturday so that he went into the final leg with a 40-odd second lead. He eventually beat
Sebastien Loeb by 38.6 seconds, while
Petter Solberg secured the final place on the podium for
Subaru.
Next up was
Mikko Hirvonen, who survived a big off on SS10, while
Stobart Ford's
Henning Solberg came in fifth. Atkinson was sixth having dropped back on day two following a puncture and a driveshaft problem, followed by Skoda privateer, Jan Kopecky and OMV Kronos' Manfred Stohl. Guy Wilks and
Matthew Wilson rounded out the top ten.
A number of drivers had problems during the event most noticeably
Citroen's Dani Sordo and Munchi's Ford's
Federico Villagra, who finished 24th and 32nd respectively under the SupeRally format.
