WRC 2: Kubica bags first World Championship win

Robert Kubica has taken his first win in the World Championship by securing victory in the WRC 2 class of the Acropolis Rally - the roughest round of the season.

The Formula One ace brought his Citroen DS3 RRC cleanly through Sunday’s final four stages to win by 1min 29.8sec from Yuriy Protasov in a Ford Fiesta RRC.

Kubica dominated the WRC 2 competition in Greece. He took the lead on Friday’s opening stage and went fastest on the first nine tests to pull more than two minutes clear of the chasing pack.

He later switched to a more cautious approach, avoiding trouble on the rocky gravel stages to secure a maximum 25 championship points.

“Finally, after a disappointing period with my mistakes and car failure, today is a great day,” said the Pole. “I think the best thing is that I learned a lot here. These are completely opposite conditions to what I’ve been used to for the last 20 years.

“Coming here and driving in a good way, managing to keep the car on the road without damage is already an achievement. Winning is even more.

“But there is a long way to go. I know I have to learn a lot and for sure the next rallies will improve me even more. There is still long way to go before I get to the level I want to reach.”

On his first rally in the Fiesta RRC, Ukrainian Protasov held off a final day challenge from Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari to take 18 points for the runner-up spot. “I pushed all the time through. I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said.

Al-Kuwari, from Qatar, consoled himself with a 15-point haul for third that keeps him in the lead of the WRC 2 championship.

“We tried our best but we couldn’t make back the time we lost earlier,” the Fiesta RRC driver explained. “It’s okay, 15 points is not bad. We came here wanting top three and we got that - we are happy.”

Subhan Aksa began Sunday’s competition fourth, but the Indonesian retired in SS11 when he went off the road. This handed the position to Ukraine’s Oleksii Tamrazov who finished 5min 30sec behind Al-Kuwari.

A delighted Rashid Al Ketbi was fifth, the Skoda Fabia S2000 driver snatching the position from Nicolas Fuchs, the production category winner, who got a puncture on the final stage.

Arman Smailov finished seventh, 1min 19sec behind Fuchs, with Valeriy Gorban eighth, 3min 37sec further back.