Craig Breen: 1990-2023

1990-2023

The rallying world was rocked after the death of Craig Breen during a World Rally Championship test in Croatia.

Breen was driving his Hyundai i20 when the car collided with a wooden pole at the side of the road, fatally injuring Breen. His co-driver, James Fulton, escaped injury. From Waterford, Ireland, Breen had been sitting sixth in this year’s WRC standings, having just recorded the ninth podium finish of his WRC career on Rally Sweden.

He was a rally fan to his core, and his rise to prominence on the international stage was as hard-fought as it was well deserved. He had become the chosen son of the Irish rallying community, and had regularly participated in events in his home country using his own historic machinery. Most recently he competed on the West Cork Rally in his Ford Sierra Cosworth.

Breen’s career began in 2007 and by 2010 he was an event winner in the Junior WRC, going on to win the JWRC title in 2011. His career faced a crossroads in 2012 when his long-time co-driver Gareth ‘Jaffa’ Roberts was killed in an accident during the Targa Florio Rally. But Breen pressed on, determined to honour Roberts’ memory, going on to win the S2000 World Championship that year. His emotional stage-end interviews endeared him to the entire sport. Victory on the Circuit of Ireland in the European Rally Championship in 2015 helped him get his big WRC break, joining the Citroën team and scoring his breakthrough podium finish with third place in Finland.

Some fairly fractious years followed, but Breen seemed to have found his groove with Hyundai, enjoying a run of four podium finishes in nine rallies before a short but difficult spell with M-Sport last year. Back with Hyundai for this year, Breen again looked to be on the up.

Breen was funny, determined, popular and talented, and he will not be forgotten by the rallying world. Motor Sport sends its condolences to his family and many friends.