So the tough times begin. Only a few days after leaving Westminster, the London to Cape Town World Cup Rally is already sorting the hopefuls from the favourites thanks to some challenging navigational tests and roads as rough as anywhere in Europe.

This morning brings news that the French-entered Morgan Plus 8 (car 29) of Pierre-Henri Mahul and Georges Asperti-Boursin is out of the rally after snapping the chassis. Says Mahul: ‘Broken in half like barley sugar, very sad. We could have got a Morgan to Cape Town if the route had not come through Greece.’

He was last seen offering the hotel manager €10,000 for his Skoda Octavia, though the receptionist overheard and was trying to get in on the deal. Will he succeed in his plan and fit Morgan badges and a chassis plate to complete the trip in a one-man touring class? 

Other wounds include a thick ear for Matt Fowle, navigator in the leading MG ZR, who fell off a workshop ladder. But he and Owen Turner are still in front despite losing over a minute to Actman and Elcomb in the Toyota Hilux. It was a challenging day for everyone, with 1000 metres of ascent in the first 100km and then the unexpected appearance of snow and ice that turned the roads near Lake Plastiras into something akin to the Monte Carlo Rally, so much so that a re-route around a snow blockage became necessary.

Next came a ‘simple’ bit of Tulip road book navigation through several very narrow streets of tiny mountain villages, but some of the front runners were upset to lose several minutes when it initially appeared slackly timed and easy to follow.

The final test of the day was an Acropolis Rally goat-track and was to prove quite surprising – muddy, slushy, remains of snow and ice, it rose and fell over blind crests along a mountain ridge and then dropped steeply downhill. Again, some took wrong turnings.  Joost Van Cawenberge in Car 45, the Tuthill-prepared Porsche 911, took all this in his stride to chalk up best time.

Among earlier casualties, Rachel Vestey and Suzy Harvey are back with their MG ZR, having caught a later boat, but now languishing second last nearly six hours behind, though even they are in front of poor David Gough and his Peugeot 504. As of last night, the engine was out on the lobby steps of the hotel in order to gain the most light for an impromptu rebuild. David Spurling in another 504 lost a wheel on the top of a mountain but limped on with the use of a garden chain, driving 60 kilometres into the arms of the Peugeot 504 Rally Club of Greece, who provided welcome assistance at last night’s service session.

Tomorrow sees six World Cup sections on classic Acropolis ground. Survivors catch a late-sailing ferry for Africa, and dine at sea.