Solberg tops Acropolis shakedown

The Norwegian, who is competing in his 100th event this weekend, was more than 1.5 seconds quicker than runaway championship leader Sebastien Loeb over the 4.2-km test stage.

Loeb was second quickest through the stage. The Frenchman, who has won the last five rallies, could equal Carlos Sainz's record for all-time WRC victories should he win this weekend.

He currently lies joint-second with Colin McRae thanks to 25 career victories, but an Acropolis victory would draw him level at the top of the list with Sainz on 26.

Henning Solberg put in a strong performance on the stage to take the third quickest time in his OMV Peugeot ahead of Dani Sordo's Kronos Racing-run Citroen Xsara.

Chris Atkinson was fifth quickest in the second Subaru ahead of Francois Duval, who is again competing in a privateer Skoda Fabia.

The rally begins later today at 16:00 BST, with the first running of the Athens Olympic Stadium superspecial stage.

Pos  Driver       Car                          Time
 1.  P.Solberg    Subaru Impreza WRC 2006      3:21.7
 2.  Loeb         Citroen Xsara                3:23.3
 3.  H.Solberg    Peugeot 307 WRC              3:23.6
 4.  Sordo        Citroen Xsara                3:23.9
 5.  Atkinson     Subaru Impreza WRC 2006      3:25.1
 6.  Duval        Skoda Fabia WRC '06          3:25.3
 7.  Valimaki     Mitsubishi Lancer WRC '05    3:25.6
 8.  Gronholm     Ford Focus RS WRC '06        3:25.4
 9.  Gardemeister Peugeot 307 WRC              3:26.6
10.  Hirvonen     Ford Focus RS WRC '06        3:26.7
11.  Pons         Citroen Xsara                3:28.3
12.  Stohl        Peugeot 307 WRC              3:29.1
13.  Kopecky      Skoda Fabia WRC '05          3:30.2
14.  Rovanpera    Skoda Fabia WRC              3:30.8
15.  Katajamaki   Ford Focus RS WRC '04        3:31.1