Consistent Craig completes hat trick of Podium finishes on ERC Rally Azores

Consistency has defined the start of Craig Breen's 2013 European Rally Championship campaign. At the beginning of February the Irish driver began his new job as Peugeot Rally Academy number one driver by claiming 2nd overall on Rally Liepāja-Ventspils, a month later he repeated that performance on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés. This weekend in 23 year old has completed the hat trick by again taking 2nd overall on round four of the season on Sata Rally Azores.

On some of the most demanding stages that the Irish driver has ever had to contend with the Peugeot ace showed maturity under pressure and scored yet another major points haul. At the finish ramp Craig said, "I'm very happy with this 2nd place. The team did a fantastic job. The weather was unbelievable but we go here in the end! This was my first time to compete here and I'm very pleased to be in the fight for the victory. I tried to push more this morning to win but Jan (Jopecky) was faster. He has more experience of this rally and experience is very important here. It was an incredible rally and I'm delighted we carried on our consistent start to the season. I'm now looking forward to the Tour de Corse."

During the post event press conference Craig was asked;

Has this weekend been one huge learning experience?
"It's been big long week. From when we arrived it's been a very long week but it's been a very good experience for me and Paul and also for the team because it was the first time for them here. For sure we gained a lot of experience and we showed some good speed also so we're very happy."

Did you think you could push Jan on the final day?
"I thought I could for this morning and for sure we pushed quite hard for the first two stages but we couldn't make any advantage on Jan and then we just had to drive a bit more with our heads and be a bit clever. Without the puncture yesterday perhaps we would have been a bit closer and I would have been more in touch. We were on the edge of our comfort zone this morning so we were trying to be clever."

Question to Paul Nagle
You won this rally in 2009 with Kris Meeke, how useful was that experience?
"It was but I don't think anyone expected the conditions to be as bad as they were. All the experience you can have counted for nothing yesterday morning and this morning. It does help to have knowledge of the area and the stages and the terrain here but it was a very difficult weekend. There was a lot of frustration but there needs to be great credit given to the organisers. They worked night and day and all hours. There's one thing you can't control and that's the weather. The teams were frustrated and the crews were frustrated but luckily they did a fantastic job at the end of the day."


Sata Rally Azores round four of the 2013 ERC was based on the on the Atlantic archipelago's largest island of Sمo Miguel. The event is famous for its stunning countryside and changeable weather conditions and over the three days the competing crews sampled all that the Azores climate could through at them. Nineteen competitive gravel stages were scheduled but from the outset the organisers had to adjust the event itinerary. Before the start SS1 Coroa da Mata 1 had to be cancelled due to heavy rain resulting in significant damage to the roads and through the rally two stages being cancelled due to fog for safety reasons.

When the action did start Peugeot Rally Academy number one crew of Craig Breen and Paul Nagle completed the first stage in second overall, 2.2s down on Robert Kubica. Unwittingly Breen knocked the right-rear tyre off the rim two kilometres from the stage end and with only one spare on board his Peugeot 207 S2000 the Irish driver opted for a cautious run through the next two stages. Overnight the 23 year old was fourth, 11.7s behind Kubica.

At the end of the opening day Craig said, "This is my first time here and you definitely need some knowledge of the stages and the weather. I'm feeling very confident; we had a puncture on the first stage. We drove very carefully through the second as I only had the one spare. I'm quietly confident we can put a big push on tomorrow."

There was drama from the beginning as the rally resumed on Friday morning for day two. A double loop of four stages set the scene and Breen was immediately on the move claiming third position as the action resumed on stage five.

Craig's Peugeot 207 S2000 suffered its second puncture of the event on SS7 dropping 16 seconds to stage winner and championship leader Jan Kopecky but the Irishman stayed in third 27.1 sec in arrears.

Then on the final test in the morning loop the rally changed yet again as fog descended and driving rain cut visibility to a bare minimum. Rally leader Robert Kubica conceded 1 min 46 sec through the 23.9 km test dropping from to 6th overall. Kopecky took over the rally lead and Breen moved to second and by virtue of a better stage time than his Czech Republic rival cut the gap to 16.4 sec.

At the stage finish Breen said, "I'm happy to be moving in the right direction. Robert, Jan and I were neck and neck on stage six; it's nice to be in the fight. It was a pity that we picked up a puncture on SS7 but we didn't lose too much time. I had zero visibility in places on that last one (stage) and it was difficult to drive flat out, my confidence is coming step by step,"


The afternoon loop began with 'Coroa da Mata 2' which was to be the opening test on day one but was cancelled. The organisers worked very hard overnight to make it possible to run today and Breen narrowed the gap to Kopecky by taking a single second from the Skoda driver, leaving the deficit now at 15.4sec.

Kopecky hit back on SS10 by eking .5 of a sec on Breen over the 7.86 km 'Batalha Golfe 2' stage. On what turned out to be the final stage of day two (SS11) Craig took his first fastest stage time of the event beating Kopecky by 2.8 sec and heading into the final day the gap between the top two was 13.1 seconds.

Looking ahead to the final day fight Breen said, "We'll be flat out....for sure we have a little bit left in the tank. The only disadvantage for me tomorrow is that it's the first time on the stages and Jan has done the rally a few times before. But we'll give it a good shot."

Consistency has been the hallmark of Breen's ERC campaign to date but the current SWRC champion really wanted his maiden win, "Getting podiums is nice but I don't want to be second place any more. I need to finish the rally but I'd really like to get a win."

The erratic weather conditions did not abate as the crews took to the final day. Kopecky went 2.6seconds faster than Breen on the Saturday opener (SS13) widening the gap to 15.7sec but more worrying for the Peugeot crew was that Craig reported smoke coming into the cockpit as they negotiated the stage.

The fight continued on SS14 with Breen going .5 of a second better than is Czech Republic rival but at the end of the stage Craig again stated smoke coming into the car, "We've got smoke still coming into the car for the majority of the stage and we lost a bit of time. It's something in the central column that's throwing a lot of smoke into our face, its difficult." said Craig.

SS15 the penultimate before midday service and Kopecky pulled another 3.4 sec as Breen clips a rock. Breen said in his end of stage interview, "I hit a big rock and thought I had a puncture but we were lucky, it's becoming a tougher challenge. We think we've now found a solution to the problem of the smoke coming into the car." The morning loop was completed with the Grupo Marques - Super Special Kopecky pulled two more seconds from the Irish driver to reach the midday service halt with an advantage of 20.8 seconds.

On to the final loop and stage 17 Lomba da Maia, Kopecky set the fastest time taking 2.2 from Craig. At the end of the 8.27 km test Breen said, "I went into the stage with mixed feelings and took two spares. I felt I was losing time on the tarmac section, but it was okay at the end."

Stage 18 the penultimate test, Craig takes a cautious approach and Kopecky extended his advantage to 26.7sec. Craig at stage the end, "We just got through that one. We need to be clever again. Of course I tried to push very hard this morning. Nothing stupid, but for sure we were pushing. It's all very well racking up these 2nd places, 2nd is getting monotonous. I want to win."

At the finish the Craig said, "We decided to get through there. For sure to come to the finish and get a podium is great; for sure it would have been nice to get a win. The win will come, we are on top form."