News & Articles Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally 2024: 57 entries in the Regularity Category!
The Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally, a round of the Greek Regularity Championship, will be held from November 8 to 10 with a total of 57 crews. This year’s event has attracted 15 international crews, who will have the opportunity to experience Greece’s beautiful landscapes alongside 42 Greek crews, competing in a road rally passing through iconic locations of Greece.
As in last year’s edition, Alexandros Bougiouris and Elena Kanellopoulou will have No. 201 on their MG B TD, the oldest car in the rally, dating back to 1950, competing in Category E (for cars manufactured up to 1961). Christos Vlachos and Dimitris Lykogiannis will participate in a 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta 750F Spider, while Kyriakos Farmakis and Maria Athanasopoulou, aiming to repeat last year’s impressive results—second overall and first in Category F—will be driving a 1964 Volvo 122 S. Ioannis Inglesis and Ioannis Dontas will compete in a 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220 SB, while Polish driver Artur Moscicki, returning for his second consecutive year, will pair up with Monika Bubla in a 1967 BMW 1600-2.
Giorgos Georgakopoulos and Tasos Douros will be driving a 1968 Morris Mini, with last year’s fifth-place finishers, Dimitris and Eleftherios Liakos, behind the wheel of a 1968 Ford Escort MKI. Also back are Christos Tsiogas and Sotiris Kolliopoulos, who finished second in Category G last year and will compete again with a 1968 Ford Escort MKI. Alexandros Tsekeris and Spyros Karagiannis are also returning with their 1969 BMW E10 1600-2.
Konstantinos Angelopoulos and Giorgos Karamalis will start the rally with a rare 1969 MG B GT, while Romanian team of Stefan Marinescu and Catalin Popescu will join with a 1969 Opel Commodore A. Experienced Konstantinos Mitropoulos, codriven by Cypriot Neoklis Nikolaou, will be sharing a 1971 Lancia Fulvia Coupe in this year’s Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally.
Konstantinos and Georgios Oikonomidis are traveling from Northern Greece in their yellow 1972 Autobianchi A112 with a modest 900 cc engine. Last year’s winners, Athanasios Ntzoumanis and Vasileios Tsobanidis, will compete this year in a 1972 Alfa Romeo Spider S2, aiming for a back-to-back victory. Polish driver Mariusz Juszczyk is also returning with a 1972 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL, accompanied by Stavria Dori.
Panagiotis Georgakopoulos and Christos Lambropoulos are ready to take on the Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity challenge in a 1973 BMW E10 1602, while Panagiotis Dimitriou and Konstantina Spatoula will drive a classic 1973 Alfa Romeo Alfetta throughout the three-day event. The experienced Austrian team Harald Hekerle and Brigitte Schneider, who have a great fondness for Greece, will participate in a 1973 BMW E10 2002 Touring.
Romanian crews also have a strong presence this year. Dragos Alexandrescu returns to the rally, now partnered with Bogdan Oprescu in a 1973 BMW E9 3.0 CS. Spyros Kolaitis and Manolis Pavlakis will drive a 1974 BMW 2002, while Vassos Theodosiou and Konstantinos Piperos, both seasoned rally drivers, will participate in a striking 1974 Lancia Beta Coupe.
Making a memorable debut in Greece in 2023, Turkish Regularity Champions Selim Bacioglu and Handan Bacioglu excelled in a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 230/4, and they return this year with high expectations. The legendary “Dobermann,” Dimitris Papandreou, known for his sharp commentary, will also be competing, joined by co-driver Leonidas Nasopoulos in a 1976 BMW E21 318. Giorgos Spiliopoulos and Ioannis Baltas are set to join the action in a 1976 Lancia Beta Coupe, while Austrian duo Klaus Zimmermann and Angelika Bacher will compete in a 1978 Datsun 180B in the Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity.
Once again, Antonis Nikolaidis and Giorgos Kaioglou will start from the start ramp on Friday, November 8, driving a 1978 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT. Returning with hopes of adding another victory to their achievements are the 2014 winners, Ioannis Katsaounis and Matthaios Mansolas, who will compete in a 1979 Volkswagen Golf I. Ever-present Bulgarians Georgi Andonov and Yordanka Andonova made a strong start in 2023 but couldn’t maintain their momentum; this year, they return with a 1979 Volvo 244 GLE. Grigoris Kasotakis and Ioannis Tsiantas will share a 1980 Mazda RX-7 in the three-day event, which counts toward the Greek Regularity Championship. Romanian enthusiasts George Mihalcea and Eduard Tudoras are eager for the rally start and will drive a 1980 BMW E21 318. Focused on their goals, Dimitris Tryfos and Georgia Sakarellou will compete in a 1981 Autobianchi A112 Abarth, while Dimitris Kalogeras and Christos Diamantopoulos, who performed well last year, will drive a 1982 Renault 5 Alpine Turbo.
New to the Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity, Romanians Adrian Anton Georgescu and Liliana Georgescu will also compete in a Renault 5 Alpine Turbo. A standout entry is the sole French team of Achille and Thierry Kettela, who will drive a 1983 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2000. Christos Paschalidis and Dimitris Nikolopoulos return this year with a 1984 Toyota Starlet, while Triantafyllos and Maria Margeti will race in a BMW E28 518i. In their third participation, Aristotelis Ninios and Stelios Voudouris will be driving a 1984 BMW E28 528i, while Thanasis Baklatsis and Thodoris Zervas will handle a 1984 BMW E24 628 CSi. An eye-catching entry is the 1985 Audi Coupe GT of Michalis Lampris and Maria Skepastianou, who hail from Thessaloniki. Belgian driver Christian Crucifix, experienced in Regularity events and winner of the 2021 Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity, returns aiming for another victory, this time joined by fellow countrywoman Jennifer Hugo, the 2023 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique winner, in a 1985 Peugeot 205.
The rally has once again attracted international participants, including another Romanian team, Dragos Mircea Busca and Ioan Catalin Popescu, who will compete in a 1985 Porsche 944 Turbo. Stefanos Liosis and Maria Paschalidou will drive a 1985 BMW E28, while Aris Georgousopoulos and Nikolaos Kontopos, who finished sixth overall last year, will be back with their 1986 Volkswagen Golf II.
Christos Chatzikonstantinou and Manolis Dimakareas, the 2022 event winners and Greek Regularity Champions, will pursue victory again in their black Volkswagen Golf II. The event will also feature the “tireless” Miltos Andriopoulos, a legend in Greek motorsport, driving a Toyota Corolla GT-5 with Dimitris Dimopoulos as co-driver.
Charalambos and Ioannis Mitropoulos will share a 1987 Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo, while seasoned competitors from Arcadia, Aris Papakonstantinou and Nikolaos Poulieris, will appear in a 1990 Renault 19. Also starting under the Acropolis on Friday, November 8, will be Kyriakos and Nikolaos Kofinas in a 1990 Volkswagen Golf II and Giorgos Vaxevanakis and Argyris Michalopoulos in a 1991 Toyota Celica ST. A stunning 1991 red Lancia Delta Integrale, driven by Romanians Viorel Stefan Ognean and Florin Mitea, is sure to capture attention, while the mixed team of Evangelos Christou and Ioanna Simeli will participate in a 1992 Nissan Sunny 4×4.
The Young Timer category, intended for cars from 1994 onwards, is well-represented this year. Iakovos Melanitis and Andreas Pitarakis will drive a Ford Escort RS2000 MKV, while Vasilis Giannopoulos and Giorgos Andriopoulos’ yellow Fiat Cinquecento will recall the Cinquecento Trofeo days. Competing in the same model will be Anastasios Karakatsanis and Anastasios Akrivos. Romanian duo Mihai Vulpe and Razvan Catana will join with a rare 1998 Dacia Nova, and Giorgos Kanellopoulos and Nikolaos Kritsikis will share a 2000 Toyota Celica TS, coming fresh off a second-place finish in the championship Regularity Rally Monte Vostitsa.
On Thursday, November 7, Scrutineering for the Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity will take place at the colonnade of the Peace and Friendship Stadium (S.E.F.) from 08:00 to 13:30. The rally will officially start on Friday, November 8, at 12:00 beneath the Acropolis, with competitors heading independently to Ancient Corinth for a regrouping. Four precision stages will follow, including two night stages, and crews will stay overnight in Ancient Olympia.
On Saturday morning, November 9, at 09:00, cars will depart from Ancient Olympia. After completing five precision stages, they will regroup in Nafpaktos. Subsequently, three more precision stages will take place, ending the day’s journey in Itea. Sunday’s route on November 10 includes seven precision stages, with an intermediate regrouping at the Oiti Refuge. The finish line will be at 15:30 in Itea, with the awards ceremony scheduled for 19:00 in the same location.
The total length of the Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally is approximately 860 km, with 20 Regularity stages split into 3 legs and 5 sections. The Virtual Notice Board can be accessed via the Sportity app (Code: ACRHIST24RE).
The sponsor of the event is SEAJETS. SEAJETS operates the world’s largest fleet of speedboats, serving a total of 50 ports and over 400 connections from Piraeus, Rafina, Lavrio, Crete, Thessaloniki, and Volos, with final destinations in the Cyclades and the Aegean. SEAJETS has been in the shipping industry since 1989 and, after its official entry into passenger shipping in 2002, continues uninterrupted to this day with a modern fleet of high-speed vessels.
Supporting the event is also NISSAN Chalkias, part of the official NISSAN network for over 45 years, which also maintains a fully organized used car department for all categories and manufacturers.
Avis Car Rental supports the Historic Acropolis Rally! With a global presence, Avis has operated in Greece since 1960 and has an extensive network of 60 stations nationwide, including all major airports. They also have a modern fleet of approximately 60,000 cars in various categories, including automatic cars, city cars, SUVs, commercial or passenger vans, and luxury vehicles. Avis’s fleet also includes green (electric or hybrid) cars, reflecting sustainability and growing demand. Their reliable rental services cater to needs for every occasion, from excursions to corporate transport and official events.
Clevermedia.gr supports this year’s Historic Acropolis Rally! Clevermedia was founded in 1996 by a group of young people with enthusiasm and new ideas for promoting and communicating businesses in the public and private sectors. The company has gradually developed five different sectors, including electronic communication (website creation, CD-ROM development, 3D presentations, videos), printed communication (advertising material, magazines), product promotion (marketing services, stand construction, infokiosks, sponsorships), and in recent years has also engaged in developing and implementing new technologies (programming, applications, wireless networks, technical support, online TV & radio stations), as well as the study and digitization of files in both public and private sectors.
SP Tableware was founded in 1959 and specializes in selling household and professional goods. With years of experience in handmade engraved glassware, the company stands out for using the traditional method of hand-engraving glass with diamond wheels, creating a variety of designs and offering the possibility of unique contemporary and classic engravings. Its products are available in selected stores throughout Greece and abroad.
Superfast Ferries supports the Historic Acropolis Rally this year by offering discounted tickets to competitors coming to Greece to participate in the final round of the European Historic Rally Championship.
The organizers receive invaluable assistance from the Region of Attica, the Regional Unit of Viotia, and the Regional Unit of Fokida. The municipalities supporting the Historic Acropolis Rally include the Municipality of Athens, the Municipality of Thiva, the Municipality of Levadeia, the Municipality of Delphi, the Municipality of Orchomenos, the Municipality of Aliartos, the Municipality of Nafpaktos, and the Municipality of Ancient Olympia.
The communication sponsor is Cosmote TV, which has been present at all motorsport events in our country in recent years.
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