News & Articles Historic Acropolis Rally 2023 – Regularity- Leg 3: Triumph for Athanassios Ntzoumanis-Vassileios Tsobanidis in Regularity!
After 839 kilometers, the adventure of the Historic Acropolis Rally Regularity came to an end, with Athanassios Ntzoumanis-Vassilios Tsombanidis winning the event in a 1973 Lancia Fulvia Coupe 1.3S. In the third and last leg of the event, which was the second round of the Greek Regularity Championship, the crews started from Itea and after passing through Arachova, Amfikleia, Tithorea and Livadeia, they ended up in Arvanitsa for regrouping. Then, via Alepochori and Psatha, they passed through Megara, ending at the Cultural Capital City of Europe for 2023, Elefsina.
Ntzoumanis-Tsombanidis took the lead in Leg 2 and stayed on the top till the end of the rally, achieving their first victory in the Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally. Finishing in second place, Kyriakos Farmakis-Maria Athanassopoulou in a 1964 Volvo 122S, were in sixth place on Leg 2, climbed up to second position on Saturday and remained there till the end of the event. In the third step of the podium, finished last year’s winners, Christos Chatzikonstantinou-Manolis Dimakareas in a 1985 Volkswagen Golf II, who won five places on Saturday, climbing for another year to the winners’ podium. Collecting the fewest penalty points on Sunday, Gerassimos Katochianos-Dimitris Stavropoulos drove a 1981 Ford Fiesta MKI to finish fourth, ahead of Dimitris Liakos-Eleftherios Liakos in a 1975 BMW 1502. Aris Georgousopoulos-Nikos Kontopos finished in sixth place in a 1973 Toyota Celica ST.
Austrians Harald Hekerle-Brigitte Schneider, driving a 1971 Datsun 240Z, finished one place further back and overcame Alexandros and Dimitris Mourikis on Sunday, leaving the crew of the Ford Fiesta MKI in eighth place. Kyriakos Kofinas-Giorgos Tzavaras in a 1989 Volkswagen Golf II finished the demanding Historic Acropolis Regularity Rally in ninth place, with Turkish last year’s champions in their country, Selim Bacioglu-Handan Bacioglu completing the top ten in a Mercedes Benz 230/4 of 1975.
Further back were Dimitris Kalogeras-Christos Diamantopoulos, driving a 1982 Renault 5 Alpine Turbo, with Vassos Theodosiou-Konstantinos Piperos in a 1974 Lancia Beta Coupe finishing 12th overall. They were followed by Christos Tsiogas-Sotiris Kolliopoulos in a 1968 Ford Escort RS 2000 MKI, Aris Papakonstantinou-Nikolaos Poulieris in a 1986 Audi 80 and Loukas Tsipouras-Stella Kosti, in a 1981 Ford Fiesta MKI.
In categories, in E, which is aimed for cars from the period from 1947 to 1961, Christos Vlachos-Antonis Rekkas won in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta 75, while in F, which includes cars from 1962 to 1965, Kyriakos Farmakis- Maria Athanassopoulou (Volvo 122 S) finished on the top. In Class G for cars from 1966 to 1971, the Austrians Harald Hekerle-Brigitte Schneider (Datsun 240Z) finished first with Christos Tsiogas-Sotiris Kolliopoulos (Ford Escort RS2000 MKI) finishing second, ahead of the Poles Artur Moscicki-Adrian Moscicki which finished third in the class in a BMW 1600-2. In Category H which includes cars from 1972 to 1976, event winners Athanasios Ntzoumanis-Vassilis Tsombanidis (Lancia Fulvia Coupe) won also the category, with Dimitris and Eleftherios Liakos finishing second in a BMW 1502. Aris Georgousopoulos-Nikos Kontopos finished third in a Toyota Celica ST.
Gerassimos Katochianos-Dimitris Stavropoulos took first place in Category I, which is aimed at cars between 1977 and 1981, in a Ford Fiesta, while Loukas Tsipouras-Stella Kosti with the same car finished second. The podium in I was completed by Antonis Nikolaidis-Georgios Kaioglou in an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT. As for J1, which includes cars from 1982 to 1985, Christos Chatzikonstantinou-Manolis Dimakareas with Volkswagen Golf II finished at the top, ahead of Alexandros and Dimitris Mourikis (Ford Fiesta MKI) and Dimitris Kalogeras-Christos Diamantopoulos (Renault 5 Alpine Turbo). In J2, which is aimed for cars between 1986 and 1990, Kyriakos Kofinas-Giorgos Tzavaras (Volkswagen Golf II) took the lead, with Aris Papakonstantinou-Nikolaos Poulieris finishing second in an Audi 80 and Giorgos and Athanassios Sakellariadis (Toyota Corolla GTI) third.
Sponsors of the event were the Municipality of Elefsina, Elefsina, the European Capital of Culture for 2023, Superfast Ferries, SP Tableware, Seajets and Cosmote TV.
HISTORIC ACROPOLIS REGULARITY RALLY 2023 – RESULTS
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