ATHENS – Belgian driver Thierry Neuville was the winner of the EKO Acropolis Rally 2022 on Sunday, completing the three-stage finale in first place for the first-ever win of his career in the World Rally Championship (WRC) hybrid era, as well as bringing a ‘maiden’ 1-2-3 for the Hyundai team.

Neuville’s Hyundai squad emerged from the penultimate day unscathed while several frontrunners hit trouble. He carried an advantage of almost half a minute over team-mate Ott Tänak into Sunday’s three-stage finale with Dani Sordo completing the podium lockout in third.

At the start of Sunday’s final course of 45.06 kilometres, the S. Korean manufacturer’s team had essentially “bagged” the top three spots when Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was sidelined by turbo problems, after which Hyundai ordered its team into “safety mode”, instructing them to bring all three cars home and not change positions.