Read and Smart shine in gruelling opening day of WRC Acropolis Rally

Kiwi co-driver Malcolm Read has made a strong return to the world stage, teaming up with South African rising star Max Smart to tackle the legendary EKO Acropolis Rally in Greece, a gruelling test of endurance and skill on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar.

The duo, representing the FIA Rally Star team in a Ford Fiesta Rally3, are competing in both the WRC3 and Junior WRC (JWRC) categories at the 2025 edition of the rally, widely known as the “Rally of the Gods.”

Based out of Lamia, this year’s event features 17 punishing stages covering over 340 competitive kilometres on searing hot, bone-shaking gravel roads.

Coming off a breakthrough third-place finish in WRC3 and a top-five JWRC result at Rally de Portugal last month, their first rally together, Read and Smart arrived in Greece with confidence and momentum. And after a solid showing across Friday’s seven stages, they are again in podium contention.

Day 1 Overview:

After the first full day of competition, Smart and Read sit third in the WRC3 standings and fourth in Junior WRC, just 2.2 seconds shy of third in both classes, setting up a thrilling fight for podium honours across the remaining two days.

They are chasing Turkish duo Ali Türkkan and Oytun Albayrak, who dominated the opening day in both categories with six stage wins and a commanding 1-minute 57.1-second lead over Diego Domínguez Jr. and Rogelio Peñate in WRC3.

In JWRC, Türkkan/Albayrak also lead with a 1-minute 59.3-second buffer over Swedish pair Mille Johansson and Johan Grönvall, who hold second place.

Smart and Read, meanwhile, are embroiled in a tight battle for the final podium spots in both classes. In WRC3, they trail Domínguez Jr./Peñate by just 2.2 seconds, while in JWRC, they are locked in the same margin behind the same crew, who currently hold third in both standings.

Stage 1 – EKO Super Special Athens (1.5km)
Smart/Read opened their Acropolis account with a 5th-place result in WRC3, clocking a 1:31.5 time, 3.1 seconds behind stage winners Türkkan/Albayrak. In JWRC, they placed 7th.

Stage 2 – Aghii Theodori 1 (26.76km)
They improved to 4th in WRC3 with a 21:03.7 effort, 28.4 seconds off Türkkan/Albayrak, who made it two from two. In JWRC, they again settled for 7th.

Stage 3 – Loutraki (12.90km)
Another consistent showing saw them place 5th in WRC3, 18.5 seconds adrift of the now three-time stage winners Türkkan/Albayrak. In JWRC, Smart/Read ended the stage in 8th.

Stage 4 – Aghii Theodori 2 (26.76km)
They cracked the top three in WRC3 for the first time, finishing 3rd with a time of 21:10.2. In JWRC, they were 5th quickest on the re-run of Stage 2.

Service Park – Lamia: Teams regrouped and serviced their cars ahead of the late afternoon loop.

Stage 5 – Thiva (19.58km)
Smart/Read delivered their strongest result of the day here, finishing 2nd in both WRC3 and JWRC, just 7.8 seconds behind Türkkan/Albayrak, who extended their unbeaten run to five stages.

Stage 6 – Stiri (24.18km)
A 4th-place WRC3 finish and 6th in JWRC followed, with a time of 16:38.8, 17 seconds off Türkkan/Albayrak in WRC3 and 26.3 seconds off stage winners Johansson/Grönvall in JWRC.

Stage 7 – Elatia (11.58km)
The Turkish duo were finally toppled in WRC3 by Australian pair Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic, who ended their dominant run. Smart/Read finished 4th in WRC3 (9:54.9) and 6th in JWRC, rounding out a gritty day of consistent stage results.

Day 1 Standings:

WRC3:

JWRC:

“We knew it was going to be rough, but we had a positive attitude the whole day and we had a lot of fun. We are 4th in JWRC and a few seconds behind 3rd, so we are very happy that we are in the fight. We want to keep the same momentum. Drive fast and protect the car in the second pass.” said Smart

With two gruelling days still to run and 10 stages remaining, the rally is far from over. Smart and Read are well-positioned to challenge for silverware in both categories. If their Portugal performance and Friday’s pace are anything to go by, they have every reason to be optimistic.

The Acropolis Rally resumes on Saturday at 5:22 pm NZT with Stages 8 to 13 before concluding with the final four stages on Sunday, beginning at 5:03 pm NZT.

Header Image: Tomáš Řehůřek