Breen let down by car as fast start undone

Having punched in the third fastest time on yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour de Corse, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Craig Breen suffered disappointment when his Sainteloc-run Peugeot 207 S2000 broke a driveshaft on the second stage as he lost touch with the leaders.

The Waterford ace also had to traverse the final stage of the leg in two-wheel drive mode and ended the day down in 24th place — more than three minutes behind rally leader Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda Fabia S2000). Derry’s Marty McCormack and his Mallow co-driver David Moynihan, in the PSEngineering-run Ford Fiesta S2000, are 13th overall.

On the 26km opening stage, Giandomenico Basso (Fiesta S2000) was quickest, with Dani Sordo (Mini WRC) 3.4 seconds behind and a charging Breen (Peugeot 207) just two-tenths of a second further back. He said: “I have an incredibly good feeling with the car. The set-up is amazing.”