BREEN AROUND THE WORLD
Rally Championship star Craig has point to prove after tough year
M-SPORT team principal Richard Millener called it.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “sometimes things just don’t quite click.”
This time last year Waterford’s Craig Breen was facing into the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC) full of vim and vigour.
For the first time, Ireland’s only representative in the top echelons of the WRC was a team leader — this time with the British based M-Sport outfit, having signed a deal, alongside friend and co-driver Paul Nagle, to pilot the Ford Puma.
Battle
The deal was for two years and it started with a bomb for M-Sport, winning the opening event, the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally, with multi world champion Sebastian Loeb winning his home event after a titanic battle with fellow Frenchman Sebastian Ogier.
Breen settled for a brilliant third in his first run in the Puma behind the two French legends — a fine result behind two drivers on their own patch.
The remaining 12 rounds of the 2022 WRC promised much for the Irish crew.
However, round two in the snow of Sweden saw their Puma beached on a bank before fourth place in Croatia, eighth in Portugal and a second spot in Sardinia behind former champion Ott Tanak seemed to get Breen back in the grove in the Puma which was proving difficult to manage.
The second part of the 2022 season was a nightmare for the M-Sport team leader.
After a sixth place on the Safari Rally, Breen finished outside the points in the next three rounds.
In fact, in the last seven rounds Breen’s best placed finish was fifth on the Acropolis Rally.
A driver noted for being one of the best at bringing a car to the finish saw his 2022 season littered with accidents and non-scoring finishes, leaving M-Sport unhappy with their team leader.
Retired
By seasons end, and before the final round in Japan, Breen’s time was over just one year into his two-year deal.
Nagle retired and was replaced by James Fulton before the final agony in East Asia as the pair crashed the Puma into Japanese Armco — ending Breen’s partnership with a team in which he previously won two junior world crowns.
“Obviously (2022) has not matched our expectations. It has been far from what we wanted,” said Breen.
“Some good turns of speed and two podiums towards the early part of the season. But, unfortunately, there was too much going wrong, especially towards the latter part, so I’m just trying to move on now.
“It should have been the perfect fit but obviously, that’s not the way that it worked out.
“There’s a lot of lessons to be learned, not just in a sporting sense, in general.
“It’s going to make us stronger.You know, Im definitely going to be better on the back of it.
“I’ve had probably the toughest season of my life so far, so I just want to use that as motivation ahead and move forward into 2023 and try to make the best out of it as I can.
“They always say that it’s good character building and if you can learn from your mistakes and learn from problems in your life that you can actually correct.”
Breen, thankfully, has the chance in 2023 to make things better as he has re-signed with the Korean Manufacturers Hyundai and is sharing thirdcar duties with the Spaniard Dani Sordo.
It meant missing the seasonopening Monte Carlo rally last weekend, where Sordo was an unconvincing seventh overall, and instead competing in next month’s second-round Rally Sweden.
“I just need to go back to where we were at the end of the last year, where, with myself and Paul, we were really on top of everything (2021).
“James (Fulton) is ready to start that adventure with me now again this year.
“At the end of 2021, I felt like I was really at the top of my game.
Fight
“I could fight with the best drivers in the world at my ease and enjoy it along the way. So, I just need to do everything I can to get back into that place again and I’m sure we can”
Breen will also have to readjust to life without Nagle, his former co-driver and friend and a navigator very much to the fore of Irish motorsport, having won five world championships rounds with Dungannon’s Kris Meeke.
Breen has yet to register a WRC win himself.
“It’s a bit sad. I understand completely his decision. You know, he has got a young family
at home and priority shifts somewhat when things like that happen. So, I’m delighted for him in one sense that, you know, he gets to spend a bit more time at home.
“He’s sacrificed so much of it over the last number of years at the top.”
Breen has had one outing with James Fulton in Japan and, despite locking horns with an Armco barrier, the 33 year old Irish driver is happy with the choice of new navigator.
“I have to say it’s been positive. Japan is probably the most difficult rally that he could ever have done but I was pleasantly surprised. I was encouraged with the way that he was able to perform. And I think he should have no issues doing the job.”
Now that the deal with MSport is behind him Breen must look to the future.
He has had tragedy in his career as well — his co-driver Gareth Roberts was killed in 2012 when the pair were competing on the Targa Florio Rally.
The Roberts family, themselves steeped in the sport, encouraged him to continue and an emotional Breen dedicated his second place at the 2016 Rally Finland to Roberts.
Rallying is in Breen’s blood and if ever there was a driver that can put adversity behind him it is the Waterford ace as he makes his return to Hyundai next month in Sweden.
“I made a lot of mistakes (in 2022) and I’d be the first person to put my hand up and admit that but I’m definitely motivated and looking forward to what the year will bring.
“It’s not a full programme but honestly I just want to try and do as many events as I can.
Step
“Obviously, the goal is to get back to a full-time driver, which I think is still achievable.
“And, you know, maybe this interim step of sharing the car is what I need to get myself back on form again.”
And that step starts with Rally Sweden.
“I have had good results (there) in the past. So yeah, we will try and hit the ground running and in Sweden we will have a good road position.”
It’s not since the legendary Billy Coleman and, more recently, Kris Meeke, has Ireland had a driver at the top echelon of the WRC.
There are others following him and there were seven Motorsport Ireland licence holders competing on the Monte Carlo Rally last weekend, and that did not include Breen.
“I think it’s great what Motorsport Ireland and (benefactor) John Coyne and their academy are trying to get new talent into the sport.
“And you know, ultimately I’m not I’m not going be doing this forever.
“I would like to think a nice couple of years left for me and that is it.
“We need young talent coming in and there seems to be a healthy pool coming up behind.
“You’ve got to build from the bottom up, though, and hopefully the academy can help to achieve that.”
‘It should have been the perfect fit but that’s not the way it worked out’