Will Craig Breen be there in Estonia?

Craig Breen is the first to be surprised by the situation. He himself cannot explain why he is so comfortable in fast races like Estonia, Finland or Sweden. A native of Waterford, 170 km southwest of Dublin, he started racing in his region in 2007. First running mainly on tarmac, he experienced his first thrills on narrow and winding roads... everything that the events where he has so far obtained his best results in WRC. This season, Breen will start his 7^e rally from Estonia. Alone Ott Tänak has more participations. Craig stays on two 2^es places en 2020 et 2021 lorsqu’il était « porteur d’eau » chez Hyundai. Recruited by M-Sport pour être le N°1 du team, l’Irlandais avait prévenu que son entame de championnat serait compliquée. Ayant à redécouvrir les rendez-vous les uns après les autres à la suite de plusieurs années avec des programmes incomplets, le pilote de 32 ans ne peut plus tergiverser. En Estonie, en Finlande et ensuite à Ypres il doit endosser le costume de leader que lui a attribué Malcolm Wilson. A l’issue du Kenya, un sourire éloquent barrait son visage à l’évocation de cette série. « Portugal, Sardinia and Kenya were frustrating at times, he explained to Naivasha. I often had everything to learn and didn't want to jeopardize that opportunity. We are finally going to tackle areas that I master better. » The one who has already obtained 2 podiums with the Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 in 2022 (Monte-Carlo and Sardinia), will he be able to rely on his knowledge of the Tartu region to open his world record? Knowing that he is among the favorites, how will the one who has the reputation of being fragile manage to manage this wait? The first answers will come from Thursday evening (SS1 at 19:38 p.m.) before the 23 other special stages scheduled until Sunday.

Photo Nikos Katikis / DPPI