The Estonian Ott Tänak and the Spaniard Dani Sordo indeed completed the podium, at the end of a weekend marked by a collective failure of Toyota, on very slippery Greek tracks where the official Yaris cruelly lacked grip , end to end.

"I am especially happy for the team, because we had a very complicated start to the season", reacted Neuville at the stop point of the 16th and last special stage, once assured of his 16th victory in the WRC.

But the first this season, when Tänak had won three times this summer, in Sardinia, then in Finland and Belgium, on the lands of Neuville.

The Belgian managed the last morning of the race perfectly and kept 15 seconds ahead of Tänak at the end of this SS16, the Power Stage where bonus points were at stake: Tänak took five and Harri Rovanperä four, which further narrows the gap at the head of the title race.

See you in New Zealand

After this "rally of the gods", and three rounds from the end of the season, the young Rovanperä (21) remains the big favorite for the title, thanks to his five victories of the year, but he toasted a joker on Saturday in Greece, when he tore the back of his Yaris off a tree.

Tänak is only 53 points behind Rovanperä, which is the equivalent of two wins to within three points.

He would have even less if there had been race orders on Sunday, to make him win in place of Neuville and score more points, but there were none and the Hyundai Motorsport party did not not wasted on this triple day.

"It's the first time we've achieved a hat-trick and it rewards years of work," summed up Neuville, who has been an integral part of Hyundai's WRC epic since the very beginning in 2014. It's with the South Korean mark that he won all of his 16 victories, he who was five times vice-world champion.

The young Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet (Ford), 25, author of a successful rally despite problems on Saturday (puncture, etc.), took 4th place by taking advantage of the retirement of the Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota ), broken down on the road leading to the first special of the day.

He thus equaled his best result in the WRC, last June in Sardinia.

The next rally will take place in New Zealand from September 29 to October 2 and Rovanperä will have to finish it 60 points ahead of Tänak (instead of 53 after Greece) if he does not want the suspense to continue until the two last rounds, in Spain in October then in Japan in November.

© 2022 AFP