Sesks' crew outside top 10 in Acropolis Rally WRC opening stage
Latvian driver Mārtiņš Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis finished 13th overall and 10th in the WRC class after the first short stage.
In the first of 17 stages of the Acropolis Rally, which was just under two kilometers long, the Latvian crew of Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis driving an M-Sport Ford finished 13th overall. In the WRC class, contested by 12 crews, they placed 10th.
The stage winner was Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) with a time of 1 minute 38.2 seconds. He was one second faster than teammate Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota), while Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was third, 1.1 seconds behind. Sesks and Francis lost 3.5 seconds to the winner.
The rally continues on Friday and Saturday with six stages each day, and on Sunday with four more stages. Start times: Friday 8:50 AM, Saturday 7:55 AM, Sunday 8:30 AM. Live broadcast will be available on the Go3 Sport 1 channel.
This season, Sesks and Francis have already competed in the Swedish Rally, where technical issues prevented a good result, and the Portuguese Rally in early May, where they finished ninth. After Greece, they plan to participate 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).
M-Sport Ford's main lineup this season consists of two Irish drivers – Josh McErlean, who is doing the full season, and Jon Armstrong, who previously competed in junior WRC and the European Championship.
Last season, the Latvian crew followed a similar program. In the season finale in Saudi Arabia, they were the fastest but did not fight for victory due to technical issues and punctures, eventually retiring. Sesks and Francis made their WRC debut in 2024, competing in three rounds. In the home WRC round in Latvia, they finished seventh, losing a podium spot in the final stage.
