BREEN’S WOE TESTS M-SPORT
Richard Millener’s patience with Craig Breen appeared somewhat stretched in Finland. M-Sport’s team principal raised an eyebrow on Friday when his cavalier driver waved at fans mid-stage, then was dismayed on Saturday morning when Breen binned his Puma on the Rapsula stage.
He’d hit a bank over a crest, which violently removed his rightrear wheel and suspension. The mechanics repaired the car for Breen to return for a crack at the Powerstage, where he scored points in third, but he’d thrown away a sure fifth place.
Millener struggled to contain his disappointment on Saturday evening. “We wanted to take the fight to the guys at the front and we asked Craig to see if he could push a little bit harder, and unfortunately he was slightly over the limit on one of those crests and landed on a bank where there was a big rock,” he said.
“[It is] pretty disappointing. We know Craig can be fast and we know the car is fast enough, but we’re struggling to put it all together at the moment which is difficult for us.
“We have such high competition we are up against, so we can’t afford to make any of these mistakes and unfortunately we saw that this morning.”