Photo credit: M-Sport
In the space of a week, 19 year old Waterford rally driver Craig Breen, has travelled back from Rally Spain, contested the Pirelli Shoot-Out in Wales, and is now heading back to Ireland and to Birr for the weekend’s forestry rally, a critical event in the National Junior Championship.
It’s a king-pin event for Craig’s quest for the prestigious Billy Coleman Award, which offers a prize worth €50,000 to the up and coming Irish rally driver. “We need to finish in the top two in class in Birr, and I think that would clinch the National Junior Title for us. It’s been a very competitive and enjoyable championship, with its mixture of tarmac and loose, and it’s important for me to try and clinch it.”
It’s been a busy time for Craig who was one of four Irish drivers contesting the Pirelli Shoot-Out this week. “Again the Pirelli Shoot-Out experience was great. It was an efficiently and professionally run event, and it was very interesting to talk to the people there. I think Keith Cronin who won it, deserved it. His run in the four wheel drive car was very spectacular, but it was good that the times were all close. On Wednesday we drove the Suzuki Swift, which was a Group N specification 1600 machine, and then on Thursday we drove the N15 and N11 Subaru’s. Again I would like more time in Group N cars and this year maybe I just didn’t have enough experience yet, this being my first season, but I’d love to have another crack at it next year.”
Photo: Brian Butcher
It was a first for Craig also to compete in Rally Spain, with his newly purchased Fiesta R2 1600cc machine. This was an important Fiesta Sport Trophy International round and critical for Craig’s chances of making it three Fiesta championships in one season. At one point however in Spain, he felt his title hopes sliding away, like the R2 Fiesta on a right hand bend!
“We were having a small electrical problem with the car, it just wasn’t picking up right, and I had to drive round the problem. The pace was hot too, but the stages were absolutely fabulous, fantastic to drive on, even though we were wearing RS5 hard compound tyres rapidly. We were having a great battle with Lambros Athanassoulas in his R2 Fiesta, and we both felt we were pushing on hard. Unfortunately though towards the end of Saturday I got caught out on a tightening right hander. I just wasn’t concentrating properly for a split second, and trying to drive with the problem, and we hit a bank on the outside of the corner hard, and that put us on our side. I thought it was all over, but it is a testament to the strength of the R2 Fiesta that we were able to bring the car back to service, replace the damaged parts and continue under Super Rally on day two. The Tom Gahan team did a swift and superb job to fix the car, and we were able to set fast times again on the second day.”
But what at one point looked like a disaster, turned out to be a weekend where Craig’s title hopes weren’t unduly affected. Recording a finish under Super Rally and bonus points for his 8 fastest FSTI stage times, Craig actually left sunny Spain with more points than his title rival, Germany’s Patrick Anglade. “Despite the off we have strengthened our position in the series, but now it’s all to be decided on the final round Rally GB. Yes, it would have been nice to wrap up the series in Spain, but it just didn’t happen, so now we must look ahead, and it seems likely at the moment also that we will continue with the R2 Fiesta in 2010. Another bonus from contesting Spain, Finland and Portugal, is that I feel me and Gareth have grafted a good set of pace-notes for these rallies, which will be useful in future seasons. It’s all been good experience.”
Photo credit: M-Sport
Now for Craig, and Welsh co-driver Gareth Roberts, it’s hard to work for the National Junior round in Birr, in another chapter in his exciting 2009 rally season.
Issued on behalf of Craig Breen by Andrew Bushe Promotions.
For more information www.craigbreen.com
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