Rally fans worldwide mourn the passing of Waterford's Craig Breen
RIP: The late Craig Breen with the Castlereagh Trophy following his victory on the Discover Northern Ireland 2015 Circuit of Ireland Rally. Pic: Martin Walsh.
Rally fans across the globe are lamenting the tragic passing of Irish rally star Craig Breen (33), who lost his life on Thursday when his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 crashed during a pre-event test with his Hyundai Motorsport team in advance of next week’s fourth round of the World Rally Championship in Croatia. His Cavan co-driver James Fulton was unharmed in the incident that occurred just after midday local time.
The Waterford driver had a huge following on the world rallying scene and wore his heart on his sleeve. He made no secret of the fact that rallying was his world, his sport, he knew of nothing else, indeed, nothing else seemed to matter. At the beginning of this season, he returned to the Korean outfit for a second time - sharing the third Hyundai with Spaniard Dani Sordo while also campaigning a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 in the Portuguese Rally series.
Following his second place in Rally Sweden he remarked, “It's been an incredible weekend and great to be back at the front again. It was such a horrible black place where I was last year. Don’t let anyone ever put you down because only you know your true potential. The people close to me know it and finally we put it together back out there again.”
That comment underlined one of his great traits - resilience. His first ever full time drive in the WRC - with M-Sport Ford last year got off to a great start with third in Monte Carlo - behind former world rally champions Sebastien Loeb his then team mate and winner and Sebastien Ogier. While another second place followed in Rally Sardegna, he endured troubled times for the rest of the season. Only a few days ago, he was at the latest Motorsport Ireland Academy tuition day at the Tynagh karting facility where he spoke and advised eighteen young 15-year-olds that participate in the J1000 rally series within the Irish Forest Championship.
Breen grew up within a motorsport family on the Waterford/ Kilkenny border. He watched his father Ray win both the Irish National Rally Championship (2005) and the Irish Forestry (2008) series. Initially, Craig began karting before he stepped up to rallying, initially as a co-driver but in 2008 as a driver. His rise was meteoric. Within a year and on what was his first foray into the WRC, he took a class win and 25th overall in Rally Portugal; he also scooped the Irish and UK Fiesta Sporting Trophies. The same year, he was crowned Irish National Junior Rally Champion and became the youngest driver to win the coveted Billy Coleman Young Driver of the Year Award.
He always recognised the prestige of the Coleman award. A new Irish star was on the horizon, he was eager for more success and it didn’t just follow, it flowed. The Pirelli Star Driver Global Shootout Final winner (2010) and WRC Academy champion (2011). But it didn’t stop there, he won the Super 2000 World Rally Championship in 2012, but it was tinged with great sadness when his long time co-driver and great friend Welshman Gareth Roberts was killed during an accident on the Targa Floria Rally in Sicily. A factory seat with Peugeot that began in 2013 saw him win the Circuit of Ireland (2015) emulating his idol, the late Frank Meagher, who won the rally in 1992.
With Citroen in the WRC he took third in Finland (2016) and second Sweden (2018). While his WR campaign stalled in 2019, he returned home and won the Irish Tarmac Championship. He returned to WRC action with Hyundai in 2020 and 2021 taking podium places in Estonia, Ypres and Finland. He joined M-Sport Ford last year in the new hybrid era of the WRC but returned to Hyundai this season with a second place in Sweden.
Craig Breen was looking forward to more top results, sadly, it’s not to be, a driver that flew the Irish flag at the top echelon of Irish motorsport, died what he loved doing best, rally driving.
Saturday's Moonraker Rally in Ballyvourney and other motorsport events have been postponed as a mark of respect.
