HIS CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
After numerous part-time campaigns, Craig Breen finally has his big chance as part of the M-sport Ford line-up
It’s hard to find anyone as excited for the 2022 World Rally Championship as Craig Breen. After 13 years working his way up the rally ladder, the 31-year-old has finally landed his first full-time campaign in the WRC, courtesy of a two-year deal to spearhead M-sport Ford’s charge into the new Rally1 hybrid era.
Simply driving up to the start ramp at Monte Carlo will be the realisation of a dream for the Irishman, known for wearing his heart on his sleeve and an unbridled joy for rallying. “It’s what
I’ve been searching for all my life to be honest,”declares Breen.“it has been a long old road to get here and to finally have it in front of us, first of all I’m proud, but I’m just really excited. They [M-sport boss Malcolm Wilson and team manager Richard Millener] have definitely given me a new-found confidence, and it feels great to be leading the team into this new adventure.”
It’s an adventure from which Breen has already emerged as a dark horse for the title given the air of optimism and expectation coming from the M-sport camp surrounding the new Ford Puma Rally1.
The two-year deal, alongside trusty co-driver Paul Nagle, is long overdue in the eyes of many, and a just reward for Breen’s head-turning 2021 efforts. His wishes for a full-time seat were becoming increasingly hard to ignore after a third part-time campaign for Hyundai yielded three podiums from five rallies. With Hyundai unable to offer a deal, M-sport quickly snaffled up Breen for a return of sorts, having begun his rally career driving M-sport built Ford Fiestas. It has been a journey full of crests and compressions to reach this point. After switching from racing karts to rallying in 2009, success arrived when Breen won the 2010 Ulster Rally (part of the British Rally Championship), before Breen he scooped the WRC Academy and S2000 titles in 2011 and 2012 respectively, driving
Ford Fiestas. The 2012 success came amid tragedy when co-driver Gareth Roberts was killed in a freak accident at the Targa Florio round of a partial Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign.
Breen was then snapped up by Peugeot in 2013 for three campaigns in the European Rally Championship – he was runner-up to Kajetan Kajetanowicz in 2015, before Citroen came calling. After a part-time 2016 season racing a semi-works Abu Dhabi World Rally Team-run DS3, he landed a two-year partial campaign in the factory Citroen C3.
The move to the big time proved to be a false dawn when the C3 WRC was unable to regularly match its Hyundai, Toyota and Ford rivals. After scoring a single podium in Sweden, Breen lost his seat at the end of 2018. Without a WRC drive, he attempted to resurrect his career through a handful of R5 outings in 2019 before Hyundai’s thenteam principal Andrea Adamo came calling with a WRC lifeline.
Fast-forward to 2022, and Breen is about to embark upon not only a maiden full-time WRC campaign, but as team leader of a squad that will include young guns Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith, both retained by M-sport from last season. To complete the line-up, M-sport has pulled off a coup to land nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb for the Monte Carlo opener at least.
“It’s difficult to find the compromise between trying to enjoy it and take in something I’ve wanted all my life, but at the same time trying to perform at world level,”says Breen when asked if he is feeling any pressure to make the most of the opportunity.“it’s a balance I’ve been fighting all my life. I really do try to enjoy it but, at the same time, it’s a very serious game and you do need to bring something special to every event. I’m trying not to focus on that for the minute and just trying to knuckle down and do all the work that needs to be done, which is a lot, and it’s practically a new rally in Monte this year. There are no specific goals, not for Monte at least. We just want to be sure we have gone in the right way with all of the development so far.
“It has been such a massive change on the regulations side, and it’s really the work of the engineers that has been above and beyond the call of duty – they’ve done something quite incredible to make these cars work. I feel confident in the car and the goal long-term is to be world champion, that’s why we are still at it. That is the goal but
I’m trying not to focus too much on bringing in results immediately. It’s a case of getting confident with the car and being able to relax and enjoy it, then I’m sure the results will come.”
While testing has largely run smoothly, last week Breen was involved in a heavy crash that resulted in the Puma rolling down a hillside after clipping a bridge. Luckily, Breen and Nagle escaped unhurt. The car was repaired and continued the test.
The changes brought by the Rally1 regulations promise to deliver the most unpredictable season for decades. The introduction of hybrid technology will require drivers to alter their styles as they manage the use of 130bhp extra in hybrid power boosts during the stages.
“The new rules are definitely bringing a new dimension,”says Breen. “Working with a hybrid is not something we have ever had to deal with. Normally we just have to listen to the co-driver and drive, but now you have a third dimension to think about. We’ve never had to consider things such as regen and now you need to change the way of thinking and driving. Honestly, I’ve grown to adapt to it quite quickly. When you get it all hooked up, it’s a very fast and very powerful car. The hybrid unit means the cars are incredibly fast. I don’t think the spectacle will be any less.”
“IT’S HARD TO FIND THE COMPROMISE BETWEEN TRYING TO ENJOY IT AND PERFORMING AT WORLD LEVEL”