Sesks crew maintains 11th place before final day of Acropolis Rally

Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis of Latvia held 11th place overall after 13 of 17 stages in the Acropolis Rally, the eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), on Saturday in Greece.

In the final stage of the day, the M-Sport Ford crew posted the sixth-fastest time, 11.9 seconds behind stage winner Sébastien Ogier (Toyota). Overall leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) leads by 4.1 seconds over Ogier, with Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) third more than two minutes behind. The Latvian duo trails the leader by six minutes and 25.4 seconds.

Earlier Saturday, Sesks/Francis placed 12th, 10th, and 14th in the first three stages, dropping to seventh overall, then slipped to 11th after a penalty in stage 12. On Thursday, they were 13th in the only stage, and on Friday after six stages they had climbed to fifth.

Sunday will close the rally with four stages, the first starting at 8:30 AM Latvian time. The event is broadcast live on Go3 Sport 1.

After Greece, Sesks/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 for the Latvian crew in Sweden, where punctures and technical issues hampered their result. In Portugal in early May, they finished ninth.

M-Sport Ford's full-season lineup features Irish drivers Josh McErlean and John Armstrong. Sesks made his WRC debut in 2024 with three rallies, including Latvia, where he placed seventh.