MOTOR SPORT Craig Breen Rallying International Rally Yorkshire Event Report

Horrible luck is the only way to define Craig Breen's British Rally Championship season and during this weekends International Rally Yorkshire, the final event of this year's series, the Kick Energy Fiesta driver was hit again with engine problems on only the third special stage and then on the following test Craig suffered a roll. At the finish Craig said, "I was very happy to lead the event over night. The first stage last night was very tough, 16 miles in darkness and wet conditions but I was happy with my pace. This morning on stage two to take 7 seconds from Gwyndaf everything looked good, but when the car began to loose power on stage three, I though here we go again. Conditions were extremely difficult and on stage four as I entered a five-left corner I could see a pothole on the inside which was full of water, what I didn't know is how deep the pothole was and when the car slammed into it we were jolted around and onto our side. We lost a lot of time and this dropped us down the field. I'm disappointed to finish the season this way as we wanted to keep the run going after winning in Ulster".


Breen who claimed his first rally victory on the last round in Northern Ireland taught he was after rounding the corner and could end the season on a high. This was not to be however! Craig, partnered by Gareth Roberts made the perfect start as the rally got underway in darkness on Friday night with stage one. Breen set the pace over the sixteen-mile opener and was 1.5 seconds ahead of Welsh driver Gwyndaf Evans. As the rally resumed on Saturday morning Craig again was the pace setter recording the fastest time on stage two and extended his lead to 9.7 second over Evans. Conditions were very difficult as a lot rain had taken its toll on the stages and as Craig traveled through stage three (Givendale 1) he began to notice the engine down on power and by the end of the stage the car was on three cylinders. Luckily Craig and Gareth were able to cure the problem by replacing one of the plugs. On the next stage Staindale 1 Craig season finally came to an end when after hitting a pothole, the Kick Energy Fiesta jerked around and onto its side. The time lost dropped Craig down from first overall to twenty-sixth and 7:46.5 off rally leader Evans. On returning to service Craig was devastated with his luck, stating, "First we had the engine problem and after solving that I hoped we could get to the end without anymore problems. That quickly changed only a few miles later when after hitting a pothole; we ended up on our side. By the time we got back to service I was so far down the field retirement would be the easy option but that's not the way I want to close the season".


After the disappointment of dropping out of contention Craig quickly showed his maturity by setting 14:02.1 on stage five, just 0:00.1 behind stage winner Gwyndaf Evans. Over the closing stages Craig drove at a controlled pace and by the finish he was back up to 9th overall.


Not the way Craig and the team wanted to bring the current down on their season but for the frustration of the mechanical gremlin it could have been a different story.


There won't be much time for the S2000 driver to relax after his weekend in Scarborough as he and Gareth have the final round of the Citroen Tarmac Rally Championship in seven days as they make the trip to the Cork 20 International. Craig will need to put this weekend behind him as he faces into a four-way battle for the title in the Munster showdown.