Breen and Nagle sign two-year deal with M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Craig Breen and Paul Nagle will switch teams for next season.
Craig Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle have agreed a two-year contract to lead M-Sport Ford into the World Rally Championship in 2022. It is the first time that the Irish driver has been handed a full WRC campaign following part-programmes with Hyundai and Citroën in recent seasons.
Breen - who will drive the new Ford Puma WRC Rally1 on all 13 rounds next year - has been in excellent form of late, claiming consecutive podium finishes in Estonia, Belgium and Finland to leave him sixth in the drivers’ standings.
"I have been working towards achieving a full-time seat in the World Rally Championship since I was a little boy, so this was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down," Breen said.
"It has been a long road for us 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. I love rallying, every nuance of the sport, but especially the history....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. To have my name etched in the history books besides these greats is a huge privilege."
It is still unclear who Breen’s team-mates will be next season but current drivers Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith are tipped to stay with the squad.
The 31-year-old helped Hyundai Motorsport lift back-to-back manufacturers’ titles in 2019 and 2019 with team principal Andrea Adamo stating that Breen and Nagle had been 'valuable team players' during three seasons with the Korean manufacturer.