Historic 2013 Acropolis Rally begins in Athens

The 12th Historic Acropolis Rally kicked off at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens, the main venue of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, on Thursday with 69 participants vying for the trophy in one of the most difficult races internationally. Among drivers competing this year in the so-called "Rally of Gods", covering a distance of some 800 kilometers during the three-day event, are last year's European Champion Joe Reynolds-Iain Tullie and the winner of the 2011 European Championship Michael Haber-Sebastian Haberl. The Historic Acropolis Rally this year counts only for the FIA Trophy for Historic Regularity Rallies and not the Sporting category which has been cancelled due to the severe economic crisis which has hit Greece over the past three years.