Motorsport can be overwhelming at times, so much that it can make grown man cry. Literally.
Part of the FIA European Championship Rally, the Acropolis Rally of Greece proved to be a formidable test for the ERC competitors, as the event – known for being one of the toughest rallies in the world – pushed both cars and drivers to the limits.
Latvian driver Ralfs Sirmacis won his first main-class ERC event, taking advantage of Kajetan Kajetanowicz crash and suspension failure, which allowed him to win the race without any drama.
But not the same can be said about the runner up, local driver Lambros Athanassoulas. Together with his copilot, Athanassoulas was in danger of losing second position in the final stage of the rally when he caught up Peter Ranga crawling his Skoda Fabia R5. He finished the event just 0.1 seconds in front of Jaromir Tarabus, unsure of his result and with tears in his eyes – thinking he lost after a pushing hard in order to secure a good outcome on home soil.
The interview with Athanassoulas just after he finished can be seen in the video below – and, while Eurosport has added a soundtrack that is mocking it, the outburst of the crew as they watch three days of hard work go down the drain (or so they think at the time) is a quite human, and emotional, spectacle.