Sesks and Francis climb to fifth at Acropolis Rally

Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis climbed to fifth place overall on Friday at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, after seven of 17 scheduled stages in the eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

On Friday, the Latvian crew finished sixth in stage five, fifth in stage six, and eighth in stage seven, securing fifth place after two days of competition.

Stage winners were John Armstrong (Ford) in stage five, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) in stage six, and Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) in stage seven. Overall leader Neuville leads Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) by 9.7 seconds and Fourmaux by 42.4 seconds. Sesks and Francis are 1 minute 16.9 seconds behind the leader.

On Thursday's single stage, Sesks/Francis were 13th. In Friday's first three stages, they recorded seventh, fifth, and fifth places, moving up to sixth overall before the later stages.

The rally continues on Saturday with six stages and concludes on Sunday with four more stages, starting at 7:55 and 8:30 respectively. Live coverage is available on Go3 Sport 1.

After the Acropolis Rally, Sesks and Francis will compete in four more WRC rounds: Estonia (July 16-19), Finland (July 30-August 2), Italy (October 1-4), and possibly Saudi Arabia (November 11-14).

The season began in Sweden, where punctures and technical issues hindered their performance. In Portugal in early May, they finished ninth.

M-Sport Ford's main lineup this season consists of Irish drivers Josh McErlean and John Armstrong. Last season, Sesks/Francis followed a similar program and were fastest in the final round in Saudi Arabia but did not finish due to technical problems. They made their WRC debut in 2024 with three rounds, finishing seventh in the Latvia WRC round, losing a podium position on the final stage.