Tough It Out at the Acropolis Rally
Athens has arts, culture, ancient monuments and … the world's most challenging rally raceThe Acropolis Rally of Greece takes place every June and attracts thousands of fans from around the world. Athens is easy to get to from Heathrow with several flights a day offering direct routes so that you can be right in the centre of the rally action
Known as the Rally of Gods and part of the World Rally Championship, The Acropolis Rally is probably the most challenging drive of the entire championship. Competitors test both their cars and themselves against the rocky, dusty mountain roads around the capital in sweltering temperatures. Road surfaces are appalling and the cars (and quite possibly the contestants) need extra strengthening to cope with the rock-strewn surfaces they are racing over. Not only are the roads rocky and dusty, they have tortuous bends and the opportunities for overtaking are short and dangerous.
While driving these roads might be entertaining for the contestants, in 2005 the organisers realised some of the less hardcore spectators may prefer not to stand beside a dusty mountain road in temperatures of up to 50 degrees centigrade. So they introduced a Super Special Stage of the race, which is held in rather more comfortable environs; most recently at a former military airport. In 2011, the organisers introduced a further exciting new stage to the rally, a night time 11km race.








