Craig Breen was a very exceptional person and a skillful driver who will be always remembered for his achievements and his passion for the rallying cars, especially the old ones.
Craig Breen was born on 2 February 1990 in Waterford, Ireland. He was son of Jackie Breen and the rally driver, Ray Breen. At the age of nine years old, he started occupied with karting, but he made his early steps in rallying in 2007 in combination with his karting participations in Europe in 2008.
2007-2008
He made his rallying debut with a Honda Civic VTi 17 years ago where he competed with Mark Wiley at Tipperary Stonethrowers Stages Rally and finished in 69th place overall. A year later, he took part in two Irish and three British events. His first event of 2008 was the Birr Forestry Rally with a Citroen C2 R2 and Sorcha Kelly was navigating him. The crew finished 17th overall on the classification of Ireland Forestry, but at the lowest place of the podium on class 9 which was Breen’s first podium in rallying. He switched to a Ford Fiesta MK5 ST for the next four events and was winner on class 3 of Skibbereen Fastnet Stages Rally and on class 2 of The Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally while he finished one more time third overall on class N3 of Grizedale Stages Rally. He completed his season with a fifth place at Carlow Rallysprint, where he had no co-driver, and it was his first time behind the wheel of a WRC car as he drove a Ford Focus RS WRC '04 on this Irish event. He had only one retirement that year, but the two victories and the two podiums immediately showed of what he was capable to do in rallying.
2009
Breen made his full-time switch to rallying by competing in the British and the Irish Championships and in the WRC Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy. He started his season with Galway International Rally and Tipperary Sean Conlon Memorial Forestry Rally driving a Ford Fiesta MK5 ST and a Citroen C2 R2 Max respectively. Andrew Purcell was alongside him at Galway International Rally and both of them won this event on the class 3 while they finished in second place overall on the Fiesta Sport Trophy (IRL) category. Afterwards, he and Sorcha Kelly took part in Tipperary Sean Conlon Memorial Forestry Rally with a Citroen car, but the finished 18th. Gareth Roberts stepped in as his new co-driver for the rest of 2009 apart from one event where Kirsty Riddick navigated him at Donegal Rally Fiesta Challenge and together won this Irish event. He did one more outing with the Citroen car, which was the Carrick-on-Suir Wm.Loughman Forestry Rally, before his having a full-time drive with the Ford Fiesta MK5 ST and the Ford Fiesta R2. Moreover, he did an outing with a Subaru Impreza STi N12b at McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally, but he finished seventh. During that season, he had only five retirements from the 24 appearances he did. He became a double Champion in 2019 as he won the WRC Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy and the Fiesta Sport Trophy (IRL). He was victorious two times in each of these two championships and totally he claimed five podiums. In addition to his achievements, he received the Billy Coleman Award for the most successful young Irish rally driver.
2010
After a successful year Breen had in 2009, he took part in the Ireland Tarmac and in the British Championships. He had a new car on his hands as he drove the Ford Fiesta S2000 in all events apart from Rally de Turkey where he competed with a Ford Fiesta MK5 ST. He and Roberts continued their partnership for one more year as it was proved that they were a very good team together. They started their season very well as they finished second on the first Irish round while they were driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 as a course car at Carrick on Suir Wm. Loughman Forestry Rally. The third rally of their season was Mayo Stages Rally where they completed the top three, but they had two retirements on the next two events (Bulldog International Rally of North Wales, Circuit of Ireland). He made his WRC debut at Rally Turkey, as he sealed a drive with the Fiesta MK5 ST of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, but he finished 22nd overall due to the fact that he restarted under the SuperRally regulations. However, he finished in second place overall on class N3 which was his third podium of 2010. He had two other DNFs due to an engine issue and an accident during that season, but the most important is that he finished third at Pirelli International Rally and at Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes which were rounds of British and Irish championships respectively. He made an appear at Rallyshow Chatsworth where he and Roberts claimed another podium as they finished in second place overall. Following his retirement at Topaz Donegal International Rally, an Irish round, he was present for a second time in World Rally Championship by participating in Finland, but he finished just one place before the top 20. At Ulster Rally NI, he made the impossible by winning this event in three different categories (Ireland Tarmac, British championship and class R4). He finished one more time at the lowest place of the podium at Cork 20 International Rally, but before this rally he completed the top nine at Trackrod Rally Yorkshire. He decided to take part in Pirelli Star Driver Global Shootout North European, which was held in Sweden, and his season completed with Wales Rally GB where he made his first ever SWRC appearance and managed to get another podium by finishing in the second position at his class and 12th on the overall classification. He did not manage to repeat his success that year as he finished second and ninth on the standings of the Irish and the British championships respectively.
2011
Craig Breen and Gareth Roberts competed in three different championships in 2011 with a Ford Fiesta S2000 and a Ford Fiesta R2. The three championships were IRC (=Intercontinental Rally Challenge), SWRC and WRC Academy. Their first outing of the season was Rally Sweden in WRC with the Fiesta S2000 and finished 15th overall, but third on class 2. Afterwards, they took part in Rallye Sunseeker International with the Fiesta R2 where they finished at the top three on class R2 while Barry McNally navigated Breen at Carrick-on-Suir Wm.Loughman Forestry Rally and both of them were victorious on class 3, but they finished at the top five on the overall classification. The next participation for Breen and Roberts was Rally de Portugal in WRC Academy with the Ford Fiesta R2, but they had to retire due to mechanical issues. After Rally de Portugal, they participated in two British and one Irish event where they claimed two wins and one second place on their class. Rally Italia Sardegna was the next outing for them, but they only finished in eighth place overall in WRC Academy. At Jim Clark International Rally, M-Sport Ford chose Breen and Roberts to represent the Malcolm Wilson’s team with the Ford Fiesta R2, but once again they had to retire due to radiator issues. Then, they participated in one French, Estonian and Irish events where they finished second overall on class A6 at auto24 Rally Estonia, but before this event they finished at the top step of the podium on class R2 and class 4 at Ronde Limousine - Région Limousin – Vassivière and Raven's Rock Rally respectively. They claimed their first podium in WRC Academy at Rally Finland as they finished second overall and improved their performance at ADAC Rallye Deutschland by taking their maiden victory in WRC Academy. Between these two WRC rounds, Breen took part with Martin Brady at Tipperary Stonethrowers Stages Rally with the Fiesta R2 and finished in second place of the podium on class 6. After Rallye Deutschland, he and Roberts decided to do an outing Barum Czech Rally Zlín, which was an IRC round, with the Fiesta S2000 and finished seventh. At Rallye de France – Alsace, they had one more retirement in WRC Academy as the driveshaft of their Fiesta R2 was damaged. Their second participation in IRC came after their DNF in France where they finished just one place behind the podium positions at The RACMSA Rally of Scotland. Their penultimate event of the season was RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada where they secured a drive with the Fiesta S2000 of PS Engineering in SWRC and finished fourth overall on their category. At Wales Rally GB, the crew finished at the first place of the podium and crowned as the WRC Academy Champions of 2011 which was the first title of Breen and Roberts in World Rally Championship. For his success in WRC Academy, Breen received for a second time the Billy Coleman Award for being the most successful young Irish rally driver.
2012
The 2012 season for Breen was one of the most devastating in his career. He competed in four championships (WRC, SWRC, IRC and European Cup South) and in some national rallies. His year started with Rallye Monte Carlo in SWRC where he won this iconic event with the Ford Fiesta S2000. As pre-event test for Rally Sweden, he and Roberts took part in the Norwegian rally, KNA Rally Finnskog, where they had an accident. In Sweden, they finished at the second step of the podium while the following event after the second WRC round was Carrick-on-Suir Wm.Loughman Forestry Rally in Ireland taking their second win of the season. Their successful performances in SWRC stopped in Portugal where they had to retire due to mechanical issues with their Fiesta S2000. Afterwards, they participated in three IRC events in a row with a Peugeot 207 S2000 in which they finished fifth and sixth overall at Circuit of Ireland and at Tour de Corse respectively. Their common career ended on the third IRC event, Targa Florio - Rally Internazionale di Sicilia when a guard rail entered the car on the right side and killed Roberts at the eight stage of the rally. However, Breen did never give up and made one outing at Nicky Grist Quinton Stages Rally with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII and had Dai Roberts as his co-driver, but they had a DNF due to a gearbox issue. The Irishman announced Paul Nagle as his new co-driver for the rest of the season and their first event together was Rally Finland where they scored zero points on SWRC championship as they had an accident. After these two retirements, Breen bounced back by winning two rallies in a row in SWRC category (Wales Rally GB and Rallye de France – Alsace). He made another switch by driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 of Sainteloc Racing at Rallye Sanremo and his entry was for two championships (IRC and European Cup South) finishing sixth overall on these two classes. His last rally in SWRC was RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada where he took his fourth win of the season and became the SWRC Champion for 2012. Apart from his participations in the below rallies and championships, he got behind the wheel of a WRCar for a second time in his career after the end of his SWRC campaign and drove a Skoda Fabia WRC at Setkání mistrů while he and Nagle secured one more outing with Sainteloc Racing and Peugeot 207 S2000 at Rallye du Var where they finished at the lowest place of the podium on France Tarmac championship. The Motorsport of Wales founded a rally in memory of Roberts that year and its name is West Wales Rally Spares Jaffa Stages where Breen completed his season by taking part in it and finished in fourth place overall, but claimed the win on class 4 with the Ford Escort MK2 and Llion Williams as his co-driver. In 2012, he was awarded with the KartSport Ireland International Driver of the Year and with the Billy Coleman Award (for the most successful young Irish rally driver. The latter one trophy was won three times by Breen.
2013
Craig Breen extended his deal with Sainteloc Racing for one more year and had the chance to drive the Peugeot 207 S2000 in ERC, but the most important thing is that he secured a programme with Peugeot Rally Academy which cooperated with Sainteloc Racing. His ERC campaign started with David Moynihan as his co-driver and Rally Liepāja Ventspils where he finished on the second place of the podium. He claimed a top two finish for a second event in a row as the next ERC outing for him was Rally Islas Canarias - El Corte Inglés where Paul Nagle returned back to his navigator’s duties. Breen drove a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO XI as a course car at Carrick-on-Suir Wm.Loughman Forestry Rally. Before the start of SATA Rallye Açores, the organizers held a city show on the Portuguese roads where Breen and Nagle finished 17th overall. The real action of this third ERC round started the next day and the Irish crew claimed another second-place finish. Between the third and fourth round in European Rally Championship, he did an outing with Nagle at Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes with a Ford Escort MK2, but they had to retire. Their next ERC event was Tour de Corse, but they were not able to get another podium as they finished fourth overall. Karl Atkinson stepped in as his navigator only for Donegal International Rally and Breen drove a Ford Escort MK2, but once again he had a DNF on this national event of Ireland. Nagle sat to the right side of Breen for the fifth ERC round, which was Geko Ypres Rally, but yet they did not take their first win of the season as they completed the top three in Belgium. Lara Vanneste replaced Nagle for the next three ERC rounds where they finished in seventh place overall at Rajd Polski, had one retirement due to a suspension damage at Rallye Sanremo and finished at the top three at Rallye International du Valais. The final round of ERC was Rallye International du Valais in 2013 and Breen finished third on the drivers’ championship. However, his season did not end as he participated in Rally Monza Show with Sebastian Marshall and the Peugeot 207 S2000 where he took two prizes after his having finished second overall on class S2000 twice. His last outing of 2013 season was Carlow Rallysprint with a Ford Escort MK2 where he ran without a co-driver and won the class 3B, but he finished eighth on the overall classification. Last but not least, it must be mentioned that he was awarded with the Motorsport Ireland International Driver of the Year for the first time in his career.
2014
The Irishman continued driving for Peugeot Rally Academy in European Rally Championship in 2014 while he did two outings in World Rally Championship with his team. His first appearance of the season was Riihimäki Ralli with Pasi Torma as his navigator and drove a Peugeot 306 S16, but he did not complete the rally due to a mechanical issue. Scott Martin stepped in to fill the empty seat of Paul Nagle and they started their cooperation in a positive way as they finished at the lowest place of the podium on the first ERC round which was hosted in Latvia. After this event, he made his WRC debut at Rally Sweden as a privateer and finished ninth overall with the Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Afterwards, he switched from 207 S2000 to 208 T16 for the rest of his ERC campaign and his first outing with his new car was Acropolis Rally where he took his first win of the year. Between the second and the third ERC round, he entered to Circuit of Kerry Stages Rally, but he had an accident, therefore he was not able to complete the rally. Circuit of Ireland was the third ERC round of the season, but he was forced to retire due to an issue which was related to the cooling system. After this retirement, another two DNFs followed due to an electrical and a transmission issue with his Peugeot at SATA Rallye Açores and at Geko Ypres Rally respectively. Raven's Rock Rally was a pre-event test for him and Martin with the Ford Fiesta RS WRC as the following rally for them was Rally Finland where he made his second appearance in World Rally Championship. The crew were forced to retire due to medical reasons as Breen’s back was in pain after a hard landing.
They continued their ERC programme with Barum Czech Rally Zlín and CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally where they had two DNFs due to an accident damage and an electrical issue respectively. The penultimate round of ERC was Rallye International du Valais in which Breen and Martin finished on the second place of the podium, but they ended their season with one more retirement at Tour de Corse due to a transmission issue. For one more year, he finished third on the drivers’ championship in ERC. After the season finale in Corsica, Breen took part at Carlow Christmas Rallysprint with a Ford Escort MK2 and finished in fourth place, but he was the winning driver on class 3B. In memory of his former co-driver, Gareth Robarts, he competed at West Wales Rally Spares Jaffa Stages with Trystan Lloyd and a Ford Escort MK2 where he finished eighth on the overall classification. Despite his retirements during that season, Breen won two awards by the Irish Motorsport (Motorsport Ireland International Driver of the Year, Donegal International Rally winner).
2015
Peugeot Rally Academy and Saintéloc Junior Team offered to Breen a ERC and a WRC2 programme respectively with the 208 T16 for 2015. His first outing of the season came with Int. Jänner Rallye where he and Martin had an accident. Afterwards, he made his WRC2 debut at Rallye Monte Carlo and he finished second overall at the second WRC tier from his first outing. Rally Liepaja was the following event after Monte Carlo and managed to get his first victory of the season. Birr Stages Rally was the next participation for him at the end of the second ERC round and had Andy Hayes as his navigator, but they had to retire due to a halfshaft issue with his Ford Escort MK2. His second victory in ERC came at Circuit of Ireland, but he was not able to continue his success as he had a retirement at Carlow Stages Rally due to an issue with his Ford’s throttle cable. His second entry in WRC2 class was Rally de Portugal, but this was his second consecutive DNF in a rally which was caused by an engine problem with his Peugeot. He may not manage to get to the finish line of this WRC round, but he was victorious at SATA Rallye Açores which was held in Portugal as an ERC round. After these two outings in Portugal, it was time for him to take part in Kenotek Ypres Rally where his third consecutive ERC wins came to an end after retiring with an overheated engine. Raven's Rock Rally was his next event after Belgium and finished 12th on the overall classification, but at the lowest place of the podium on class 14. Another DNF came for him in ERC as his Peugeot suffered from oil pressure problems in Estonia. Breen returned back to WRC2 action with Rally Finland and ADAC Rallye Deutschland where he retired with an engine issue and finished fifth on his class respectively. Afterwards, he entered to Barum Czech Rally Zlín, an ERC round, but he finished two places behind the top five. Moreover, he improved his result in WRC2 class by finishing just one place far from the podium in Corsica while he stepped to the second place of the podium on the penultimate ERC round which was held in Greece. He continued his WRC2 programme with RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada, but one again his Peugeot faced mechanical problems which were related to the differential. He completed his ERC and WRC2 season with Rallye International du Valais and Wales Rally GB where he finished second and third overall on his class respectively. West Wales Rally Spares Jaffa Stages was the last rally for him in 2015, but this time he won this event which was founded in memory of Jaffa. He finished just one place higher on ERC standings compared to 2014 as he conquered the second place on the drivers’ championship, but he finished only ninth at the WRC2 championship. After the end of that season, Breen was honored by receiving three awards for his results in ERC and in WRC2 class (Motorsport Ireland International Driver of the Year, Donegal International Rally winner, Irish Motorsport Ambassador of the Year).
Post a Comment