Sesks drops to 11th at Acropolis Rally after technical issues
Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis received a penalty due to engine start problems before SS12, dropping them to 11th overall despite competitive stage times.
The Latvian rally crew of Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis sits in 11th position after 12 stages of the Acropolis Rally in Greece, the eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The duo showed consistent pace on Saturday but faced a technical problem with starting the car before Stage 12, resulting in a time penalty that pushed them down from an earlier seventh place.
In the first three stages on Saturday, Sesks/Francis posted 12th, 10th, and 14th fastest times, briefly climbing to seventh overall. They were seventh in SS11 and sixth in SS12, but the penalty cost them valuable positions.
Belgian Thierry Neuville leads the rally after 12 of 17 stages, 10.8 seconds ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Japan's Takamoto Katsuta is third, 2 minutes and 12.5 seconds behind. The Latvian crew trails the leader by 6 minutes and 20.2 seconds.
On Friday, Sesks and Francis had reached as high as fifth place, showing strong pace on Greek gravel. The rally concludes on Sunday with four more stages. After Greece, the crew plans to contest four more WRC rounds: Estonia, Finland, Italy, and possibly Saudi Arabia.
