14 replies to this topic

[Bostromi]

Sitting and planning a holiday trip to Greece it hits me that I´ve never heard of racing in This country, except the Acropolis Rallye of course. But Formula and Sports Car racing - none.
Anything on this?

Per

[Rob29]

Suggest you give that country a miss. If you try looking around the only place that I know racing took place you could well be arrested as a spy.

[Excell]

Bostromi. I am from Greece (and I live here). Motorsport in Greece is an absolute joke . I mean apart from the Acropolis (which by the way takes place 13-16 June) there is no other form of motorsport developed to such extent.

You should visit Greece for it's shores and it's food (and girls !!! ) but not for it's motorsport activities. I sadly have to say that we belong in a prehistoric era in that particular form of sport. I may sound harsh but that's the way it is. Maybe it's because of the Greeks' (well not all of them hopefully) perception of motorport as another mean to express their fanatism. F 1 here is like football.

[Bostromi]

Excell, my visit in Greece is just about sun, bath and food, which is Greece for me, I don´t expect to attend any motorsport events.
I just couldn´t remember seeing anything on greek races, tracks, drivers, whatever, whenever and find that a little surprising.

Per

[Rainer Nyberg]

At least a few names comes to mind, but I think they both were based in Britain during their career.
Sportscar driver Costas Los and Dimi Mavropoulos who was a rallycross driver. Los was active during the Group C days and I think Dimi was also active during that period.

A name like Johnny Pesmazoglou also comes to mind, he raced into his 60s on the Acropolis Rally.
He won the event in the 1950s.

[ensign14]

Nico Embiricos drove an ERA in the late 30s, believe he was a DNA for the British GP. It was grey, so I take it we can count this as Greece's racing colours?

There was also a chap called Geoirge Apostikis (?) pictured in Hodges' A-Z of Formula Cars who appears to have reached F3 in the 1970s and had a Greek flag on his helmet (the one with the 9 stripes).

Otherwise, Greece's racing history ended with the 67AD Olympic Games, when Nero was declared the chariot racing champion despite continually falling out. He is the 'reining' (sorry) champion.

[Soapbox]

What about tracks like Serres or Megara ? Are they still in use or
is there just no racing series wich could use it ? I remember having heard
of a greek Superbike C'ship some time ago. Does it still exist ?

[FEV]

More recently there was Niko Stremmenos racing in Italian F3. He had an Italian licence but was born in Greece IIRC. Same for Dimitri Deverikos who raced in Formula Renault before going to Italian F3. There was a Greek F3 championship in the 1997-98 years at least, not sure it still exists. Half a dozen race per year with about ten cars starting each round - don't laugh, that's where French F3 is about nowadays !
I already came across a couple race results and most of all race and circuit projects for Greece in 60s and 70s mags. And about rallying, the Acropolis is not the only one, at least the Halkidis (didn't get that one right I'm afraid) is a regular Euro Championship event.

[Doug Nye]

Didn't the Acropolis Rally traditionally include a circuit racing stage at Tatoi Aerodrome?

DCN

[Excell]

Rainer Nyberg : Yes, Johnny Pesmatzoglou won that Acropolis Rally and he drove that monsterous Chevrolet Corvette with some style

Soapbox : Megara is an old airfield come racing track which is still used and the Serres track is a new one (comparatively). They host some major cups like the Toyota Yaris cup , the Seat Leon cup and mixed class races. And the Greek Superbike championship still exists.

FEV : You're correct on Deverikos. Moreover the Chalkidikis rally still exists. On the days when the Acropolis (as all the other rallies) was a monster in duration the Chalkidikis was a part of the Acropolis.

Doug Nye : Tatoi was a highlight of the Greek racing history. And so was the track in Rodos.

We have forgotten John Papadimitriou who takes part in some WRC rounds.
Finally a crowd pleaser here in Greece are the hillclimb events.

Single seaters are not where Greek motorsport has shone. However we are proud to have in our "arsenal" rally drivers like Pesmatzoglou, "Siroko", Iaveris and G. Moschous and a hadful more.

P.s. I should not have been so critical in my first post

[Hellenic tifosi]

My friend Excell was harsh but fair. In fact, motorsports are not dealt seriously by the media and therefore no major sposors are involved. As everyone knows, no sponsors=no money=no serious racing!

Note that no WR cars are participating in this year's rally champioships, as the regulations state that only gr. N cars are able to score points. That rule was made because there was no point in having one or two great cars 5 minutes in front of everyone else! Although now there is more competition, the situation is far worse from a spectator's point of view, as gr. N cars are simply not fast enough to thrill the rouds.

However, the Acropolis rally is a completely different story and thousands of people are climbing the mountains to watch it. Because it is a prestigious World Championship event, some ambitious local drivers either rent some WRC's or use their own, outdated ones to compete with the much better prepared world class drivers. In any case, the astonishing croud numbers simply prove that the Greek public loves the sport and that it needs more of it.

Concerning the Halkidiki rally, the area offers some amazing gravel stages, with flat terrain and a lot of challenging fast bends. However, since most rallies of the European calendar are run on tarmac, the organisers had to convert this historical gravel event into a tarmac one so as to match the current standards.

Circuit racing is not worth mentioning, as the only proper track is the Serres one, and the level of competition is very low.

[jarama]

Originally posted by Excell
However we are proud to have in our "arsenal" rally drivers like Pesmatzoglou, "Siroko", Iaveris and G. Moschous and a hadful more.
[/B]

Excell,

about "Siroko", is he still in active nowadays? I remember him in his BIC sponsored-Lancia Stratos when Beguin, Darniche, Zanini and co. were the stars of the ERC.

[Excell]

Well, Siroko retired from motorsport, in disgust during the confrontation between the drivers and the "Greek Motorsport Governing body (ELPA)" back in 1979. He has never raced ever since . He sometimes is a spectator in races, but you 'll have to look hard for him to find him. He keeps a low profile.

[Jimmy Piget]

Do somebodu knows where to find race results (if not starting grids & entry lists) for the Greek F3 series of the '1990s ?

[Rob29]

possibly an 'official secret'