Craig Breen and Scott Martin fifth in Monte Carlo

Driving the older generation Citroen DS3 WRC, Waterford’s Craig Breen and his British co-driver Scott Martin finished fifth in Rally Monte Carlo, the opening round of the World Rally Championship.

Reigning champion Sebastien Ogier, on his debut with M-Sport, brought his Ford Fiesta WRC to victory as he capitalised on the misfortunes of long-time leader Thierry Neuville, who damaged the suspension of his Hyundai WRC on the final stage of the penultimate leg.

Ogier finished two minutes and 15 seconds ahead of the Toyota Yaris WRC of Jari Matti Latvala but M-Sport were denied a 1-2 as engine woes on yesterday’s first stage saw Ott Tanak’s Ford Fiesta slip to third.

On Saturday’s early morning stages Neuville stretched his advantage to over a minute. Ogier did claw back a few seconds but then dropped time when he understeered into a field and later clipped a bank on another stage. Then, on S.S. 13 Neuville lost over 30 minutes when he damaged the suspension after he slid wide exiting a corner. Having led the rally since the start, he ended the day in 16th place.

New rally leader Ogier was followed by team-mate Ott Tanak, whose Fiesta had a new gearbox fitted. However, it started to select gears on its own. and also had power steering failure. But Tanak managed to stay some 90 seconds ahead of the Toyota Yaris of Jari-Matti Latvala.

Breen and Sordo had a day-long battle for fifth and when Sordo lost a minute on the final stage with broken power steering that sent his Hyundai off the road, Breen was fifth and then gained another place after Neuville’s demise.

Meanwhile,, on his return to the top echelon of the WRC, Elfyn Evans (Fiesta WRC) was fastest on three stages to move into sixth.

For Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle it was all about testing after they rejoined the event (Under Rally 2 rules) following an off-road excursion on Friday’s stages. Their Citroen C3 WRC stopped for over 20 minutes on Stage 10 with a mechanical issue. They were third fastest through the day’s final stage, however, on the road section from Gap to Monaco, their car was hit by another vehicle, the impact causing a damaged rear wheel and ending their participation.

Tyre choice on yesterday’s final leg proved very difficult. As Ogier took the laurels, Tanak’s Fiesta suffered a broken ignition coil pack and with no service, the Estonian had to effect repairs. Frenchman Stephane Lefebvre provided the team with its first fastest stage time when he was quickest on the Col de Turini. The penultimate stage was cancelled on safety grounds — there were too many spectators in the wrong places.

Breen was unable to match Dani Sordo’s more powerful Hyundai but still managed to finish in the top five.

“The conditions were unbelievably difficult. I guess that’s why the Col de Turini has become such an iconic test. I did wonder whether or not to go with the snow tyres for the final test, but I kept the slicks and it became more and more difficult the further we went on the stage. But we managed to make it to the end and stay in the top five, which is a great result.”

Neuville finished 15th. Wexford’s Eamonn Boland and his Waterford co-driver Mickey Joe Morrissey (Ford Fiesta R5) finished 29th.

This season’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship was launched in Maynooth on Saturday, the one major change concerns the Power Stage, where only the winner will gain one additional point.