After three days and 516 km on the beautiful routes of Thessaly Region, the Regularity cars completed the event, which proved to be one of the most demanding, even for the most experienced crews.
The interest remained unchanged until the end, justifying the predictions that spoke of a high level of competition. Indicative, of course, is the gap between the first and fourth crew, which is no more than 2.6 penalty points.
Themistoklis Kontaratos - Julious Iatridis claimed the victory at the Historic Rally of Greece 2017 in a Porsche 911 SC. With excellent precision and consistency, they managed to maintain the lead from leg 1 through the finish with only 31 penalty points. George Katsaounis - Matthew Mansolas in a VW Golf GTI finished 2nd overall, thanks to their very good performance during leg 3 and a total of 32,8 penalty points. Spyridon Moustakas - Nikolaos Moustakas in an Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti claimed a podium finish with 33,1 penalty points, a marginal gap of only 0,3 points from 2nd!
Christian Crucifix - Joseph Lambert in a Ford Anglia finished 4th overall, resulting in a co-drivers’ title for the FIA Trophy for Historic Regularity Rallies.
Despite their poor performance in leg 3, Economou George-Economou Nikos managed to secure the title in the Greek Regularity Championship.
DRIVERS’ QUOTES
KONTARATOS Themistoklis: “It was a nice, competitive rally, with peculiarities and several pitfalls up to the end. Consistency was the key to win.”
KATSAOUNIS George: “A wonderful rally. It’s the first time I compete as a driver and I have to say that it’s far more better than I expected. Matthew Mansolas was excellent in co-driving. We passed through picturesque places, the rally was challenging with some super stages being faster than expected. It was fun.”
MOUSTAKAS Spyridon: “We are pleased with the result; our performance was good. The rally was quite difficult and this is evidenced by the fact that yesterday we made a major mistake. It was good for beginners as well as for experienced participants. There were, however, some issues that we have discussed with the organizers.”
All 27 crews that compete for the FIA Trophy for Historic Regularity Rallies completed Leg 2, covering a total distance of 312 km. The crews departed from Larissa and headed to Trikala via Elassona and Kalambaka. Tackling the 19 demanding special stages proved to be a hard task and many crews took advantage of the “Joker” regulation so as to remain competitive.
As expected, competition was intense: The gap between the leaders and those who lie 9th overall is only 20 penalty points, keeping the final result undecided.
KONTARATOS Themistoklis - IATRIDIS Julious in a Porsche 911 SC still lead the rally with 21,7 penalty points, earning an advantage for the Championship’s 2nd place. EKONOMOU George - EKONOMOY Nikolaos had a great day in their Ford Escort, finishing 2nd overall. If they manage to finish the rally like this, they will be crowned Greek Regularity Rally’s Champions. KATSAOUNIS George - MANSOLAS Matthew in a VW Golf follow 3rd overall, keeping their winning hope alive. DOUROS Anastasios - BOZIONELOS George in a BMW 1502 are 4th, while, CRUCIFIX Christian - LAMBERT Joseph finished 6th, a position good enough for a co-driver’s European title.
It is worth noting that the unique classic cars became the greatest attraction for the thrilled spectators and passersby. Municipalities of Elassona, Kalambaka and Trikala hosted the crews and the residents appreciated the visit to their home cities.
Historic Rally of Greece took off directly after the ceremonial start. The 27 crews that compete for the FIA Historic Regularity Rallies Championship completed section 1, covering a total distance of 49 kilometers, 10 special stages included.
KONTARATOS Themistoklis-IATRIDIS Julious lead the rally with 4,9 penalty points, followed by KOUNELIS Dimitris-KOUNELIS Angelos with 5,3 penalty points. MOUSTAKAS Spyridon-MOUSTAKAS Nikolaos finished 3rd overall with 5,5 penalty points, while MASCAGNI Massimo-FARSETTI Fabrizio are 4th with 6,2 penalty points.
Tomorrow at 09:00 the crews will start from the Larissa Central Market for the 2nd Leg, which covers a total distance of 311.38 kilometers, through Elassona, Kalabaka and Trikala, before returning back to Larissa.