“Breen’s worked for this chance”
Shall we pretend last week’s column didn’t happen? Craig Breen it is then. I should have known, the signals were telegraphed from Sweden, when I saw him and Hyundai team manager Alain Penasse enjoying a coffee together. They shied away from a picture and reckoned they were talking about a possible
Ypres entry for the Irishman.
Which, of course, they were. But they forgot to mention the possible side order of a WRC return in Finland.
It matters not. What matters is that Breen’s back where he belongs, at rallying’s top table.
Breen’s earned it. Instead of sitting back and waiting for a golden ticket to land, he went out there and chased it. He drove everything that came his way and won pretty much everything he entered. And, what’s more, he enjoyed himself while he was doing it.
Breen’s career has been anything but straightforward, but the sort of tragedy he’s driven through offers rare, but utterly genuine context to his current situation.
The sport means everything to Breen and to have a driver like him back in the WRC is so important. As well as speed, performance and potential, he brings no shortage of emotion, understanding and an innate ability to bring the right words to the right moment.
The same goes for his co-driver Paul Nagle. The last 12 months have been entirely forgettable for the Killarney man, losing his Citroen seat alongside Kris Meeke and then his lovely old man Maurice to a short illness. Nagle and Breen will be entirely welcome back in the service park in Jyvaskyla.
As would, in my opinion, Hayden Paddon.
I must admit, I feel genuinely sorry for Paddon.
I firmly believe the Kiwi deserves a second shot at his WRC dream.
I find it hard to believe a driver who was good enough to beat Sebastien Ogier – in an arguably inferior car – to win Rally Argentina a shade over three years ago has lost it. Paddon’s endured more than his fair share of triumph, tragedy and trouble since the start of
2017, but, true to Kipling’s words, he’s demonstrated his ability to treat both imposters in precisely the same fashion.
Paddon needs to keep the faith and keep doing what he’s doing. Anybody who watched his onboards from a spiced-up i20 AP4 in South Canterbury last month will appreciate how much Paddon still has to offer.
Anyway, apologies for being wide of the mark and making you wait a week to read all about it.
Talking of waiting a week, you’ll have noticed the date – it’s July 3 (if you’re reading this on Wednesday). Being in July means we’re no longer in June, which means we’re past the end of June, which means we’re past the FIA’S self-imposed target of delivering a 2020
WRC calendar by the end of the month.
Don’t worry. It’s coming next week. And, I’m assured (admittedly, not for the first time…) the result will be the one we predicted earlier this year: Corsica and Germany standing down in favour of the Safari Rally and Rally Japan.
Germany remains on the bench, just in case this week’s candidate event in Kenya doesn’t work out as planned or there’s a last minute hitch with Japan.
A week can be, however, a long time in the world of rallying.
Trust me, I know that only too well.