Top six the target for Irish pair at Rally of the Gods

Jon Armstrong and Josh McErlean compete at the EKO Acropolis Rally, as the second half of the WRC season begins.

Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) IRL) hoping to avoid problems and come away with a strong result in the EKO Acropolis Rally in Greece. Picture: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.

The second half of this season's World Rally Championship season begins this weekend with the EKO Acropolis Rally, the first of seven gravel events from now until the end of the year. There's a reason why it's often referred to as the "Rally of the Gods" - the punishing nature of the heat and the stages where punctures from the sharp rocks place extra demands on tyres. 

The rally is based in Loutraki for its 17 stages that have a competitive distance of 323.31km. Can Hyundai break the Toyota (who hold the top five places) stranglehold on the championship and can we expect a top five finish from the Irish drivers in the M-Sport Ford outfit or will it be business as usual from Toyota? Welsh ace Elfyn Evans heads the Toyota quintet and is a whopping 62 points ahead of Hyundai's leading contender Adrien Fourmaux.

For the two Irish drivers it is all about breaking into the top six on an event, eighth overall remains their best event finishes to date.

Kesh driver Jon Armstrong has form in Greece where he was second in the Junior WRC category in 2022. However, he hasn't competed there since. Kilrea's Josh McErlean was 12th last year. This weekend they are joined by Martins Sesks, on what is the first of three events for the Latvian.

Twelve months ago McErlean was thwarted by suspension damage and a series of punctures, so he knows what to expect. "We have a decent road position, so there could be opportunities if we stay out of trouble. The roads are incredibly rough and it’s very easy to get caught out. The speed is there, but rallies like this are often about survival. If you can avoid problems, look after the car and stay consistent across the weekend, there is every opportunity to come away with a strong result.” 

Team mate Armstrong is upbeat. "It’s going to be a significant challenge with the temperatures we’re expecting and there are a lot of single-pass stages, so having a strong recce will be important. It’s definitely one of the toughest events in rallying. If we can take a steady approach, focus on ourselves, and do a good job, then it should be a positive event for us." There are six stages today.

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Meanwhile, podiums in all five rounds of the FIA F2 Championship in tandem with top four qualifying spots illustrates Alex Dunne's pace is, in his own words "about putting it together.” Fourth in the series - 19 points behind Italian Gabriele Mini (MP Motorsport) going into this weekend's sixth round in Austria, the Clonbullogue driver knows what he wants. 

His first three race weekends were tense to say the least. They included a collision with his Rodin Motorsport teammate Martinius Stenshorne while battling for the lead in the Feature Race in Melbourne. In Miami after another Sprint Race podium, he went slightly off-line at the penultimate corner and into the barrier and in Montreal he collided with Joshua Duerksen in the Sprint Race but bounced back to claim second behind Stenshorne in the Feature Race. "No matter what happens on track, you can never let it affect you. You should never let anything impact how well of a job you do when you're pressing the pedals and turning the steering wheel. So, you just need to forget about it and move on."

The Alpine Academy driver gets great support, particularly from home. Extremely assured, he adds, “I know what I'm capable of, I don't really like to talk about how good I think I am because I think I'm not here to talk, I'm here to go out and do it. I know I'm capable of putting it (the car) on pole and winning races. I just need to go out and do what I know I can, I showed it last year, but now it's just about putting it all together and making sure it happens.” 

Tomorrow's Sprint Race is at 14.15 and Sunday's Feature Race is at 10.10 - both local times.

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Elsewhere, the Killarney Classic Tour, a non-competitive event that "celebrates the legacy" begins from the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney at 11.01am tomorrow morning. Limited to 60 entries and led by the legendary Austin MacHale (Ford Focus WRC) the route will feature the iconic stages of Moll's Gap, Kilmackillogue, Tom Healy Pass and Cod's Head. There's a lunch halt in Castletownbere at 1.00pm. from where they return to Killarney.