Craig Breen gets 'golden ticket' with full-time drive in World Rally Championship

Waterford star Breen said: "To add my name to the list of drivers that have driven for Ford is a bit surreal, drivers like Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, Colin McRae, and Carlos Sainz.” 

Last weekend Criag Breen and Paul Nagle finished third in Rally Finland, their third podium finish in as many events with Hyundai Motorsport. (Photo by JUSSI NUKARI/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)

Irish rally driver Craig Breen will have his first full-time drive in the World Rally Championship after signing for the M-Sport Ford World Rally team where he will head their attack on the 2022 and 2023 FIA World Rally Championship. 

The Waterford ace and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle will compete in the all-new M-Sport Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 car that will usher in a new era within the WRC.

Breen’s partial WRC outings with Citroen and more recently with Hyundai have illustrated his capacity to deliver as both an individual and a team member; despite only competing in half of the current series he lies sixth in the driver’s championship. Last weekend Breen/Nagle finished third in Rally Finland, their third podium finish in as many events with Hyundai Motorsport.

The last time there was such a radical change in the technical regulations, M-Sport won the WRC drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in 2017 and the drivers’ title in 2018 with Sebastien Ogier behind the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC - winning on the car’s debut in Rally Monte Carlo. 

31-year-old Breen was impressed with the new car during a recent gravel test in Cumbria. Of course, he is no stranger to M-Sport - winning the 2011 FIA WRC Academy in an M-Sport-built Fiesta R2 and following up with S-2000 WRC crown onboard a Ford Fiesta S2000. 

His full-time career with M-Sport will begin with a multi-surface test in Spain and in some 100 days, with Nagle alongside, will line up for the start of the iconic Monte-Carlo Rally.

Breen said: "It has been a long road for myself and Paul in the World Rally Championship with many twists and turns but we have now been given a golden ticket to drive for the most prestigious marque in motorsport and fight for the World Rally Championship. To add my name to the list of drivers that have driven for Ford is a bit surreal, drivers like Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, Colin McRae, and Carlos Sainz.” 

Preliminary discussions with M-Sport took place a few months ago as M-Sport’s Malcolm Wilson outlined: “I have known and followed Craig’s progress for over 10 years now. I have watched him develop in a number of different M-Sport cars, using our ladder of opportunity to get him to where he is today. His performances this season have not gone unnoticed, delivering fantastic consistent results whilst only having a partial WRC programme.”