News & Articles 48 entries in the season finale!
The return of the Historic Acropolis Rally to the European Historic Rally Championship cannot be better! 48 crews from 8 European countries have entered the last round of the season. The Greek rally not only counts to the International Series, but it is also Round 6 of the Greek Historic Rally Championship with coefficient 3. The titles in all the categories of the European Historic Rally Championship have been decided, however 10 crews from abroad will experience the adventure of a Historic Acropolis Rally.
Irish, Marty McCormack-Barney Mitchell, will start with number 1 on the doors of the Ford Escort RS1800 MKII. Aged 38, the Northern Irish driver has taken part in more than 150 rallies, including selected WRC2 rallies in 2014 and 2015. Winner of the European section of Sanremo Rally Storico, he hopes to finish the year with a victory. Austrians Karl Wagner-Gerda Zauner have been crowned Champions in Category 3 in this year’s championship. They took part in 2014 edition of Historic Acropolis Rally, finishing third overall in the yellow Porsche 911 SC. For the fourth time, Ernie and Karen Graham have entered the Historic Acropolis Rally, finishing second in 2005. Having won the title in Category 1 of the European Championship, the Brits will take part in a Ford Escort RS1800 MKII of Category 4.
A Greek crew will have number 3 in the doors of a Lancia 037 Beta Rally. The primary target of Alexandros Christodoulou-Thanasis Samaras is to finish first among the Greek crews, in order to gain valuable points for the championship. Regulars of the EHRC, Frenchmen Eric Guignard-Didier Meffre will driver a Renault 5 Turbo Cevennes for the first time on gravel hoping to survive in the tough Acropolis Rally stages of the event. Italian Paolo Pasutti completes 50 years of rallying, who at 75 is the oldest driver who has entered this year’s Historic Acropolis Rally. Co-driver in the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0 will be his compatriot Giovanni Battista Campeis. Oldřich Kovařík junior has been driving Skoda rally cars since 2008 when he started his career and has never changed. With Marek Kapic as co-driver, they will share a Škoda Favorit 136 L, bringing back great memories to the older spectators who will be on the Special Stages of the event. Germans, Siegfried and Renate Mayr (Volvo 240) are EHRC regulars since 2021, but this will be their first visit to Greece. Tom Coughtrie-Alex Lee will compete in the Greek stages in a Ford Escort RS1800 MKII, trying to remain second in the championship standings, in Category 3. Driving a Škoda Octavia Super of 1961, Oldřich Kovařík snr.-Petr Dufek is the only crew competing in Category 1, which is addressed to cars prior to 1970.
Not eligible to score points for the European Historic Rally Championship, experienced Italian Valter Pierangioli will compete in the Historic Acropolis Rally with Sauro Farnocchia as co-driver in the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4. 2017 Greek Historic Rally Champion, Panagiotis Paradeisis will drive a Ford Escort RS1800 MKII in the rally, with Michalis Fragou as co-driver. Second in 2016 and 2022 editions of the Historic Acropolis, he will be chasing a place on the podium, although he knows it will not be an easy task. Having won three rounds of this year’s Greek championship, Marios Stafilopatis-Giorgos Chatzirigas are amongst the favorites to win the Greek section of the event in a Ford Escort RS2000 MKII. Youngster, Alexandros Halivelakis impressed everyone in last year’s edition and despite his lack of experience, he looks capable of starring, being third in the championship standings. His co-driver in the white Ford Escort RS2000 MKII will once again be the experienced Thanos Papageorgiou. Giorgos Vassilakis steps from the seat of the Ford Fiesta R5 to the Lancia Delta HF 4WD’s one, in order to start the Historic Acropolis Rally and will be guided by Nikos Tsadaris.
After 5 rallies in Italy, Nikos Pavlidis comes back in Greece, in order to drive a Fiat 131 Racing for the first time in his life. Allan Harryman will be reading the pacenotes. In the top of the standings in the Greek Historic Rally Championship of 2023, Dimitris Amaxopoulos-Hara Moraiti want to retain the lead after the event, in which they will compete in a Toyota Corolla. Giorgos Paradeisis-Ploutarchos Stergiou will share a white Ford Escort RS2000 MKII, while “Sassos” will make his first appearance in Historic championship, driving a Peugeot 309 GTI. Alexandros Mataliotakis will be his codriver. In 2022, Grigoris Pierroutsakos made a comeback in rallying after 20 years of absence and this years his is back for one more Historic Rally in his beloved Peugeot 205 Rallye. Spiros Karastefanou will seat next to him, reading the pacenotes. Konstantinos Papadimitriou made a great appearance in last year’s rally, finishing 6th overall in a Toyota Starlet EP71 Turbo. Together with Manos Sigalas as codriver, he is following the Greek championship and Historic Acropolis Rally is a great opportunity for them to step up the standings. Unlucky in 2022, Konstantinos Georgakopoulos returns to the Historic Acropolis Rally, this time with Kostas Kontos as co-driver in the rear-wheel drive Toyota Corolla AE86. Dimitris Pavlos Melas will drive for the first time in the event, a Porsche 911 Carrera RS, with youngster Stathis Vardaxis on the right seat. Alexandros Roustemis, made a great return in rallying some days ago and will have Grigoris Andrianopoulos in the right seat of a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth. Northern Greek, Antonis Gkanos-Petros Konstas will drive a rare Mercedes-Benz 500 SL, 12 years after his last appearance in the Historic Acropolis Rally. 2012 Greek Rally Champions, Grigoris Nioras-Kostas Kakalis is one more crew who is making a comeback in rallying, in order to compete in the final round of the European Historic Rally Championship, They will share an Opel Corsa A GSi. Ex-Regularity driver, Giorgos Delaportas decided to change category this year and step up to Sporting. With Evangelos Panaritis by his side, they will compete in a Volkswagen Golf II. In a Toyota Starlet EP71, the 1997 A5 Cup winner, Angelos Zivas, will appear in the Historic Acropolis Rally, with Konstantinos Synetos next to him, while Kostas Argyriou-Stamatis Laskos, who successfully completed last year’s event, will participate in the same car. The 2014 Historic Champion, Giorgos Kasidopoulos will compete in a Toyota Corolla AE86, which he drove for the first time at the Historic Acropolis last June, this time with Nikolaos Kotsadam as co-driver. Michalis Nomikos-Konstantinos Trovas, who will have a Toyota Starlet KP60 in their hands, want to bring a result similar to last year’s, where they finished seventh, while Takis Koutsikos-Theodoros Chatzitheodoridis will compete with the same car. The driver had climbed to the third step of the podium in the 2009 race, however, in recent years, mechanical problems he has been dealing with have deprived him of the joy of finishing.
45 years have passed since the first appearance of Dimitris Vazakas in rallying. Marina Gemeni will seat in the right bucket of the Toyota Starlet, and their goal is to be spectacular during the weekend, in the driver’s second Historic Acropolis Rally in a row. Following his father’s footsteps, Athanassios Athanassoulas will drive a Toyota Starlet, having Vasileios Basioukas next to him. Teo Kalamaras will make his first attempt in Historic Rallying in the seat of a Toyota Starlet, with Dimitris Labrakis next to him. Ioannis Paravalos, well-known from hillclimb racing will make his first appearance on gravel in a Toyota Corolla AE92. His co-driver will be Dionissis Kolotouros and together their aim is to reach the finish in Elefsina on Sunday afternoon. Greek Historic Rally championship regulars Konstantinos and Andreas Kofinas will compete in the event in a Toyota Corolla AE86, while Ioannis Kalaitzian-“Marianna Kalogiratou” will share a Fiat Ritmo 125 Abarth TC. Seven years after his last entry in the Historic Rally of Greece, Giorgos Vytogiannis returns to the racing scene with his rookie son, Nikolaos Vytogiannis in the right bucket of a BMW 2002 Ti. A Toyota Celica TA22 will be shared by Dimitris Christou-Alexandros Kotzias, while in his first-ever Historic Acropolis Rally, Giorgos Dodos will have Nikos Intzoglou in the right seat of a Nissan Pulsar. Patroklos Kansos became known from hillclimb racing, however this year he switched to gravel and will drive a Volkswagen Golf II, with Andreas Grigoropoulos as co-driver. Alexandros Papandreou made his rally debut last year and in 2023 he is coming back with Dimitris Rizopoulos reading the pacenotes in the Toyota Starlet. Ex-Regularity driver, Petros Vassilopoulos made his first attempt in Sporting category last year and he is now ready to compete in his first-ever gravel Historic Acropolis Rally, with Pavlos Votzakis as co-driver in the orange Ford Escort RS2000 MKI. Pantelis Antonopoulos-Maira Kallitsi will drive a Ford Escort RS2000 MKII in the three-day adventure. A beautiful Alpine Renault A110 1300 will be shared between Karolos Lambrou and Ioannis Kollias. Savvas Tzilavis will compete in his first ever rally, with George Dimopoulos as co-driver in a Ford Escort MKI, with Evangelos Birlirakis will drive a BMW 2002 Ti.
The Administrative checks and Scrutineering will be held in the area of Schisto (https://maps.app.goo.gl/q2ZVA5AdamPrXF8x6) on Thursday, November 2 from 12:00 to 17:30, while on Friday, November 3, the Ceremonial Start of the event will take place under the Acropolis. The crews will then compete in a total of 14 Special Stages and they will finish in Elefsina at 2.37pm on Sunday 5 November. Later, the Awards Ceremony of the rally and the Gala of the EHRC will take place in the city of Elefsina, which is the European Capital of Culture for 2023.
This will be followed by the Awards and Gala of the European Historic Car Rally Championship.
Sponsors of the event are the Municipality of Elefsina, Elefsina, the European Capital of Culture for 2023, Superfast Ferries, SP Tableware, Seajets and Cosmote TV.
On the official website of the rally (historicacropolis.gr) and on the Virtual Notice Board (https://webapp.sportity.com/channel/2023historicSPO), you can find all the information of the Historic Acropolis Rally, while on the social networks of the event you can be informed for all the latest news.
Please find the entry list in the following section: https://historicacropolis.gr/sporting/symmetoches/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/historicacropolisrallygr
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