IS CRAIG BREEN’S STEP BACK ACTUALLY GOING TO BE A STEP FORWARD?
Craig Breen endured a horrible 2022, managing just two podiums and plenty of crashes.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he did something he’d never done before and lost faith in himself as a series of excruciating post-stage interviews would attest. And when M-Sport lost faith in Breen as its team leader, the writing was on the wall.
While Breen, now 32, always maintained that a full-season campaign was all he ever wanted, the reality, based on his experiences last year, was different.
A partial schedule could therefore be the solution to the problem, albeit a short-term one, and being back at Hyundai, where he notched up four podiums in seven attempts between 2020 and 2021, is just what the troubled Irish star needs.
Breen excelled during his ad hoc appearances for the Germany-based squad, largely because the gap between events allowed him to fully focus on each opportunity. Although expectations on him were low, he approached each outing intent on proving himself like it was his last chance.
While his commitment never wavered during his year away with M-Sport, there were distractions, plus the false sense of security from what was intended to be a twoyear stint with the Cumbrian team.
Although Breen and new wingman James Fulton have fewer opportunities to impress in 2023 due to the nature of their carsharing arrangement with Dani Sordo and Candido Carrera, it’s down to team leader Thierry Neuville and his more-than-capable number two Esapekka Lappi to deliver the big results, not Breen. Breen just needs to be the team’s dependable fourth driver while he gets his confidence back.