Craig Breen finishes seventh on opening stage of Rally Sweden
SNOW FUN: Craig Breen of Ireland and James Fulton of Ireland are competing with their Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid during Day One of the FIA World Rally Championship Sweden. Pic: Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images
Hyundai Motorsport and World Rally Championship returnee Waterford’s Craig Breen has an opportunity to show his pace on this weekend’s Rally Sweden, the only true snow rally in the World Rally Championship. On the short opening 5.16km Umea stage on Thursday evening Breen and co-driver James Fulton finished in seventh spot - 6.7 seconds behind rally leaders Finland’s Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris Rally1).
At the stage finish, Breen said, “I struggled for traction coming out of the junctions and I was a bit messy in the braking spots but we got through it. looking forward to tomorrow.” From the high of finishing third on last year’s Rallye Monte Carlo on what was his debut as M-Sport’s team leader, his contractual agreement with the British based team ended prematurely amidst public criticism from his M-Sport bosses. Although it is only a partial programme with Hyundai, it is one that offers the chance of career redemption.
“Rally Sweden is always an event that I enjoy and a place where I have been able to bring home some of my best results in the past.” In 2018 he finished second overall in a Citroen C3 WRC. “The stages are very straight and very fast, meaning you need to be committed to be quick. With quite a few stages taking place in the dark, it’s really important to make sure the pace notes are accurate.”
How his times compare against Ott Tanak, his successor at M-Sport, will be closely monitored. On SS1 Tanak was second to Rovanpera just 1.6 seconds off the pace with Welsh ace Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris) another 1.5 seconds further behind followed by Hyundai duo Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville, who was feeling unwell.
Motorsport Ireland Academy drivers Down’s William Creighton and Donegal’s Eamonn Kelly compete in a pair of Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars.
On the home front, the Motorsport Ireland National Navigation Trial series and the Munster Navigation Championship merge on the Skibbereen “100’ Isles Navigation Trial that is based in the O’Donovan Rossa GAA complex in the west Cork town. The Cork crew of Derek Butler/Denis O’Donovan are aiming to extend their lead of the national series following their victory in the recent Cork 1000 Shakes event. The first car away on the 85-mile route is at 11pm.
MotorCycling Ireland issued a statement on Wednesday last outlining current difficulties in procuring insurance for the current season. It follows communication in late October last year from their broker, who advised that insurance company Allianz were no longer covering motorsport and that they had reached out to other companies albeit to no avail. Presently, it appears there are a number of brokers trying to source cover the sport. Sean Bissett (president) said “We just need to let the brokers try and get it sorted as all the money in the world would not make a difference because it is not a question of how much, the question is will they insure us.”
1. K. Rovanpera/J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3m. 23.3s; 2. O. Tanak/M. Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1)+1.6s; 3. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+3.1s; 4. E. Lappi/J. Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+3.9s; 5. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+5.0s; 6. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+5.6s; 7. C. Breen/J. Fulton (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+6.7s; 8. P.L. Loubet/N. Gilsoul (Ford Puma Rally1)+10.8s; 9. J. Huttunen/A. Linnaketo (Skoda Fabia R5)+11.4s; 10. O. Veiby/T. Eriksen (Volkswagen Polo GTi R5)+12.3s.
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