Craig Breen wins the Ypres Rally

Following his confirmation to compete in the Rally Finland with Hyundai Motorsport, Craig Breen offered himself a prestigious victory last night on the roads of Rally of Ypres.

The Irishman, lined up in a Volkswagen Polo R5, this time free from any fire concerns, dominated almost the entire event, leaving only Kevin Abbring (Volkswagen Polo R5) to win the first three SS before get your hands on the racing controls.

Breen patiently widened the gap against Abbring, who remained in the wake of the former Citroën driver, but who was never able to challenge the leadership of the resident of the BMA team.

“I love the Ypres course and it’s an internationally renowned race that I really wanted to put my name on the list of winners, Breen says. The VW Polo R5 immediately gave me confidence and it is really very precise. »

Abbring, for his part, finished the rally 45″ behind, while having conceded 25″ in the final sector. The Dutchman also believes he lost big in SS6 with 17″ dropped on Breen, while the gap was previously only three seconds.

“The car was perfect but I made a little mistake on Friday night, and maybe I have a little less pace than Craig, Abbring concedes. To come back, I would have had to take too many risks but I absolutely wanted to finish. »

The podium is completed by Kris Princen, who gives the Volkswagen Polo R5 a hat-trick. Freddy Loix places the best Skoda Fabia R5 in 4th place ahead of Davy Vanneste (Volkswagen Polo R5).

Note that the Masters of the Ypres Rally were logically won by Thierry Neuville at the wheel of his Hyundai i20 coupe WRC.

Discover the full report of the Ypres Rally, in issue 2223 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.