Breen rallies to second place finish in Finland

Craig Breen got his World Rally Championship season back on track as he finished second in the latest WRC Academy event in Finland. The Waterford driver was an early leader on the previous two WRC events but was unable to finish in Portugal and came eight in Sardinia after car problems.

In Finland the 20-year-old finally lived up to his huge potential, pushing WRC Academy leader Egon Kaur from Estonia to the final stage. Breen has made a slow start on the opening day but at the end of day two he led the WRC academy standings ahead of Kaur. However on the final two stages of the rally, Kaur overhauled Breen to take the win by 2.6 seconds.

While Breen was disappointed not to win, the Waterford native was happy to get some points on the board. “I lost a lot of time on SS16 where I was caught behind two cars. We really wanted to win, we were so hungry for this victory, but that's rally and we can't think too much about the ifs and buts. We have to focus on the rest of the season now and with Tarmac events to come I think we can do well and maybe still win the Cup.”

Breen is one of six Pirelli Star Drivers, selected from across the world, to compete in this year’s World Rally Championship Academy. The next round of the WRC Academy takes place in Germany in three weeks time where Breen will hope to cut Kaur’s 52 point lead at the top of the standings.