In Greece, we are not very famous about our activity in motorsports. Although most of us tend to believe that we are something between Sebastian Loeb and Michael Schumacher, the truth is that we are as much relevant with motorsports, as the British with basketball...
Nevertheless, we can be proud of the Acropolis rally. A race that was first organized back in 1951 and because of its success, it became international in 1953. Over the years, only in 1974 the rally was not held at all, whereas in 1995 it was not part of the World Rally Championship. After that break and a long period of it being in the WRC, in 2014 it was downgraded to the European Rally Championship (ERC). But still, it didn't lose all its glory.
Unfortunately, the Greek Motorsports Federation recently announced that there will be no Acropolis rally next year, but hopefully it will return to the calendar of the 2020 ERC. It seems that within the vortex of the economic crisis, even that race was affected. Of course, it is oxymoron that a country which based on tourism, not to be able to organize an international rally. Greece spent hundreds of millions of euros for the 2004 Olympic Games, for stadiums and facilities that were used only for two weeks!
On the other hand, a rally is an event that no special facilities are demanded. The race is held on gravel roads, not even a race track is needed. Normally it is held every year, drawing the attention of the world for at least 3 days. All that is required, is willing and quite good organizational skills. That's why the first race was successful, although it took place after the end of the civil war, which followed the WWII, in a ruined country.
If I was to choose between a F1 circuit and the Acropolis rally, I would definitely choose the second, because building a track in Greece implies corruption, millions of euros spent on bribery and a facility that soon after will be abandoned and fallen into disrepair.
*Image by wikipedia.org
Information from sport24.gr and wikipedia.org
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