Posted Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 11:00pm
It was, according to Kris Meeke, as though somebody had thrown a duvet across the windshield of his DS3 WRC. The analogy was slightly strange, but it did the job. He was blinded by the dust.
Admittedly, circumstances at that Rally Australia a decade ago were compounded by the second pass of the Valla stage running in the darkness, but it was the dust that had Meeke and Sébastien Ogier so angry.
Dust is an inevitable byproduct of summertime gravel rallying and this week’s Acropolis Rally Greece could be the worst affected WRC round of the season. No sooner had the crews finished dusting themselves down after Sardinia earlier this month before they were on the phone to their respective teams suggesting a request for four-minute gaps on the hard-baked tracks in the hills of central Greece.
But what does that actually mean? What actually happens when the team asks for more time between them and the car ahead?
Timo Rautiainen is poacher turned part-gamekeeper on this one. Two decades ago, he was on the radio complaining about the dust and instructing his team manager of the need to be talking to the FIA or the clerk of the course.
