Craig's Championship Chase Moves To Cyprus

Anyone that has followed the career of Peugeot Rally Academy driver Craig Breen will be well aware that you can never write him off when it comes to a championship fight. Even when lady luck has slapped him in the face over the years, and even when things might look impossibly out of reach he has always managed to pull an extra something out of somewhere to achieve his goals.

As the 2014 FIA European Rally Championship moves to round nine the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally (19-21 September) Craig and his co-driver Scott Martin will be very much hoping to capitalize on absence of some key championship rivals to take maximum points in his Peugeot 208T16 as the FIA ERC enters the final three events of the season. Not used in the FIA ERC since 1999 the Nicosia based rally offers drivers the rare opportunity and challenge of a mixed road surface on all but two of the fifteen stages that will make up 232 competitive kilometres over the weekend.

Craig proved his ability in the Peugeot 208T16 on mixed surface events earlier this year when he took his own and the car's maiden FIA European Rally Championship round victory at the Acropolis Rally in Greece so this together with the absence of Championship leader Lappi is a massive opportunity for the Peugeot Rally Academy driver to reduce his 53 point deficit. He won't have it all his own way however as not only will he have to adapt his driving to suit the challenge of changing surfaces in a car set up for gravel but other FIA ERC regulars like Kajetanowicz, Magalhمes and Consani will certainly keep him on his toes.

The event gets underway as normal with a Qualifying Stage on Thursday the 18th but the real action begins with a spectator stage through the streets of the Cypriot capital on Friday evening. Saturday consists of four repeated stages south of Nicosia, Sunday's route features three repeated stages, including two west of Nicosia and both days will have three visits to the permanent service park in the capital.