Craig Breen facts for kids
Breen in 2012.
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Irish |
| Born | 2 February 1990 Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | 13 April 2023 (aged 33) Lobor, Croatia |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2009–2012, 2014–2023 |
| Teams | Peugeot Sport, Citroën, Hyundai, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team |
| Rallies | 81 |
| Championships | 1 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 8 |
| Stage wins | 30 |
| Total points | 372 |
| First rally | 2009 Rally de Portugal |
| Last rally | 2023 Rally Sweden |
Craig Breen (2 February 1990 – 13 April 2023) was an Irish rally driver, who competed part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, Wales Rally GB, Rally France and the Rally of Spain. Breen was also the WRC Academy champion in 2011, winning his first event at the 2011 Rallye Deutschland and sealing the championship with a win at Wales Rally GB. The Academy title going down to the last stage, with Breen and Estonian rally driver Egon Kaur ending the season, both on 111 points, Breen then won the title on count back of stage wins, 39 to 14. Breen recently won the Rentokil Historic Rally in Killarney, Kerry, Ireland in his BMW M3 E30.
Breen died on 13 April 2023 after an accident during a pre-event test, ahead of the 2023 Croatia Rally.
Contents
Career
Craig was the son of Ray Breen, a national champion in Irish rallying. He began karting in 1999 in Ireland. He began rallying in 2007, combining it with karting commitments in Europe in 2008.
In 2009 he made the full-time switch to rallying, competing in the Irish, British and International Fiesta Sporting Trophys, winning all three championships. He also went on to win the Fiesta Sport Trophy International Shootout and was award a twelve month contract with M-Sport. For his achievements Breen was crowned Young Irish Rally Driver of the Year and received the Billy Coleman Award.
In 2010 he debuted the Ford Fiesta S2000 in both British Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. He took his first BRC victory on the 2010 Ulster Rally and went on to finish 2nd overall in the ITC. He also finished 17th overall in the car at the 2010 Rally Finland and 12th overall at Wales Rally GB.
In 2011, Breen competed in the WRC Academy driving a Ford Fiesta R2. He won his first WRC event at the Rallye Deutschland and his win at Wales Rally GB made him the inaugural WRC Academy Cup champion.
For 2012, Breen progressed to the S-WRC championship driving a Ford Fiesta S2000. He won the opening round at Monte Carlo and led the championship after the second round on Sweden.
In June 2012, Breen's co-driver Gareth Roberts was killed in an accident during the Targa Florio Rally, the fifth round of the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In Rally de Catalunya, in November, he won the Super 2000 world championship. At the end of the rally, a very emotional Breen declared "I'm a kid, I can't believe I've done this."
In 2013, Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle was signed by Peugeot to lead their ERC campaign called 'Peugeot Rally Academy'. Breen was successful, achieving five podium places during the season, and eventually finishing 3rd overall, missing out on the runner-up spot by only four points. Midway during the season Nagle left the team to help out Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen in the WRC; from the Rajd Polski onwards, Belgian Lara Vanneste became Breen's co-driver. They're expected to return to the team for the 2014 ERC season.
Breen and co-driver Scott Martin won the 2015 Circuit of Ireland Rally which has been a long-time ambition of Craig's especially as this would be the 20th anniversary of his Rally Idol's Tarmac Championship Win, that being the Late and Great Frank Meagher.
Breen achieved his maiden Special Stage win in the 2016 Rally Finland.
He did a part-time campaign with the Citroën Total World Rally Team in 2016, achieving an emotional first podium finish with third place in Finland. He improved the result in 2018 by finishing second in Sweden.
In October 2021, it was announced that Breen will join M-Sport World Rally Team as their lead driver for the 2022 season. He will join Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith in competing all 13 rounds.
Breens latest win was in the Killarney Historics rally on 27 November 2021.
Before 2022 Rally Spain, James Fulton became Breen's new co-driver after his long-time co-driver Paul Nagle announced his retirement. With Breen’s move from M-Sport to Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT confirmed for the 2023 World Rally Championship, Fulton co-drove for Breen on Rally Sweden, where the duo achieved a podium finish, before Craig’s untimely death whilst testing their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car for 2023 Croatia Rally
Career results
Breen won his first ERC rally at the 2014 Acropolis Rally in Greece, driving a Peugeot 208 T16.
WRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta ST | IRE | NOR | CYP | POR 25 |
ARG | ITA | GRE | POL | FIN 26 |
NC | 0 | |||||
| Ford Fiesta R2 | AUS | ESP 36 |
GBR 39 |
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| 2010 | Castrol Ford Team Türkiye | Ford Fiesta | SWE | MEX | JOR | TUR 22 |
NZL | POR | BUL | NC | 0 | |||||||
| Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | FIN 19 |
GER | JPN | FRA | ESP | ||||||||||||
| Barwa Rally Team | GBR 12 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | SWE 15 |
MEX | POR | JOR | ITA | ARG | GRE | FIN | GER | AUS | FRA | NC | 0 | |||
| PS Engineering | ESP 15 |
GBR | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | MON 14 |
SWE 16 |
MEX | POR Ret |
ARG | GRE | NZL | FIN Ret |
GER | GBR 13 |
FRA 17 |
ITA | ESP 6 |
17th | 8 | |
| 2014 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | MON | SWE 9 |
MEX | POR | ARG | ITA | POL | FIN Ret |
GER | AUS | FRA | ESP | GBR | 25th | 2 | |
| 2015 | Saintéloc Junior Team | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | MON 13 |
SWE | MEX | POR Ret |
ARG | ITA | POL | FIN Ret |
GER 18 |
AUS | FRA 17 |
ESP Ret |
GBR 13 |
NC | 0 | |
| 2016 | Abu Dhabi Total WRT | Citroën DS3 WRC | MON | SWE 8 |
MEX | ARG | POR | ITA | POL 7 |
FIN 3 |
GER | CHN C |
FRA 5 |
ESP 10 |
GBR Ret |
AUS | 10th | 36 |
| 2017 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroën DS3 WRC | MON 5 |
10th | 64 | |||||||||||||
| Citroën C3 WRC | SWE 5 |
MEX | FRA 5 |
ARG Ret |
POR 5 |
ITA 25 |
POL 11 |
FIN 5 |
GER 5 |
ESP | GBR 15 |
AUS Ret |
||||||
| 2018 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroën C3 WRC | MON 9 |
SWE 2 |
MEX | FRA | ARG Ret |
POR 7 |
ITA 6 |
FIN 8 |
GER 7 |
TUR Ret |
GBR 4 |
ESP 9 |
AUS 7 |
11th | 67 | |
| 2019 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | MON | SWE | MEX | FRA | ARG | CHL | POR | ITA | FIN 7 |
GER | TUR | GBR 8 |
ESP | AUS C |
14th | 10 |
| 2020 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | MON | SWE 7 |
MEX | EST 2 |
TUR | ITA | MNZ | 9th | 25 | |||||||
| 2021 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | MON | ARC 4 |
CRO 8 |
POR | ITA | KEN | EST 2 |
BEL 2 |
GRE | FIN 3 |
ESP | MNZ | 8th | 76 | ||
| 2022 | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Puma Rally1 | MON 3 |
SWE 36 |
CRO 4 |
POR 8 |
ITA 2 |
KEN 6 |
EST 30 |
FIN 32 |
BEL 63 |
GRE 5 |
NZL 19 |
ESP 9 |
JPN 24 |
7th | 84 | |
| 2023 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | MON | SWE 2 |
MEX | CRO | POR | ITA | KEN | EST | FIN | GRE | CHL | EUR | JPN | 6th* | 19* |
* Season still in progress.
SWRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Barwa Rally Team | Ford Fiesta S2000 | SWE | MEX | JOR | NZL | POR | FIN | GER | JPN | FRA | GBR 2 |
12th | 18 |
| 2011 | PS Engineering | Ford Fiesta S2000 | MEX | JOR | ITA | GRE | FIN | GER | FRA | ESP 4 |
10th | 12 | ||
| 2012 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | MON 1 |
SWE 2 |
POR Ret |
NZL | FIN Ret |
GBR 1 |
FRA 1 |
ESP 1 |
1st | 118 |
WRC Academy Results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Craig Breen | POR Ret |
ITA 8 |
FIN 2 |
GER 1 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 1 |
1st | 111 |
WRC-2 results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Saintéloc Junior Team | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | MON 2 |
SWE | MEX | POR Ret |
ARG | ITA | POL | FIN Ret |
GER 5 |
AUS | FRA 4 |
ESP Ret |
GBR 3 |
9th | 55 |
IRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | MON | CAN | COR | YAL | YPR | AZO | ZLI 7 |
MEC | SAN | SCO 4 |
CYP | 12th | 24 | ||
| 2012 | Saintéloc Racing | Peugeot 207 S2000 | AZO | CAN | IRL 5 |
COR 6 |
ITA Ret |
YPR | SMR | ROM | ZLI | YAL | SLI | SAN 6 |
CYP | 14th | 26 |
ERC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Sainteloc Peugeot Rally Academy | Peugeot 207 S2000 | JÄN | LIE 2 |
CAN 2 |
3rd | 145 | |||||||||
| Peugeot Rally Academy | AZO 2 |
COR 4 |
YPR 3 |
ROM | CZE | POL 7 |
CRO | SAN Ret |
VAL 3 |
|||||||
| 2014 | Peugeot Rally Academy | Peugeot 207 S2000 | JÄN | LIE 3 |
3rd | 104 | ||||||||||
| Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | GRE 1 |
IRE Ret |
AZO Ret |
YPR Ret |
EST | CZE Ret |
CYP Ret |
ROM | VAL 2 |
COR | ||||||
| 2015 | Peugeot Rally Academy | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | JÄN Ret |
LIE 1 |
IRE 1 |
AZO 1 |
YPR Ret |
EST Ret |
CZE 7 |
CYP |
GRE 2 |
VAL 2 |
2nd | 185 | ||
| 2016 | DGM Sport | Citroën DS3 R5 | CAN | IRE 1 |
GRE | AZO | YPR | EST | POL | ZLI | LIE | CYP | 8th | 38 | ||
| 2020 | Team MRF Tyres | Hyundai i20 R5 | ITA 4 |
LAT 4 |
PRT 16 |
HUN Ret |
ESP 11 |
7th | 49 | |||||||
| 2021 | Team MRF Tyres | Hyundai i20 R5 | POL 42 |
LAT 2 |
ITA 9 |
CZE | PRT1 | PRT2 | HUN | ESP | 10th | 43 |
* Season still in progress.
Death
Breen died on 13 April 2023 after a crash driving his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 rally car in a testing session for the 2023 Croatia Rally. The front-left of his car collided with a pole on a road between Stari Golubovac and Lobor at 12.40 pm local time, fatally injuring Breen. Breen's co-driver James Fulton was uninjured.
See also
In Spanish: Craig Breen para niños
