Craig Breen Rallying WRC Portugal Event Preview

The long wait is over and the first stage of the FIA WRC Academy is now only days away. Craig travelled to the Algarve on Friday, over the pasted week he has trained hard and now he just wants to get on that first Super Special in Lisbon. “Last October seems along time ago now and with the Academy season not beginning until late March there has been a long gap but now I’m fully prepared and ready to begin my assault on the Academy Championship next weekend.”

Craig and Gareth carried out a full days testing on Saturday and covered over 130 Kms. Craig was very happy afterwards stating “I felt it important to get in a test session out here (In Portugal) as the stages are very specialised. Blind crests on the stages makes the event very tricky and we will be hoping to use our knowledge from 2009. Over the day we concentrated on car setup, tyres and our pacenotes. We were delighted with the days work and I’m now looking forward to carrying out a detailed recce.  

For the first time in 37 years the rally visits the capital city of Lisbon for the events ceremonial start. The cars will be transported there on Thursday for the ceremony and opening speed test, before returning to Faro by the same means ahead of two days of gravel action.The 2011 FIA WRC Academy Launch will take place in Lisbon next Thursday 24th March at 12 noon. The event will begin with a Q&A with guest speakers Marc de Jong (WRC Academy Principal), Michèle Mouton (FIA), Malcolm Wilson (M-Sport) and Matteo Braga (Pirelli), followed by a driver parade introducing the WRC Academy Class of 2011 before a buffet lunch.