“It has been such a horrible, horrible black place where I was last year. Don’t let anyone ever put you down, because only you know your true potential. The people close to me know it and finally, we managed to get it back out again. I’m just so happy to be back fighting at the front again with this amazing team, amazing car.”
This emotional response from Craig Breen after returning to the World Rally Championship podium in Rally Sweden following a turbulent 2022 offered a rare window into a professional athlete’s world. It was a stage-end interview that won’t be forgotten easily – a timely reminder that these superheroes who tackle the world’s toughest roads at insane speeds are, above all, human.
No matter what your profession, confidence is critical in transforming potential into results. In motorsport, nailing the car set-up can be equally important as having the belief to succeed, so it comes as no surprise that when a driver’s confidence levels drops, performances tend to follow suit. It can trigger a downward spiral that can lead to dark places, such is the pressure to perform at the highest level. But as the old saying goes, ‘time is a great healer’. For World Rally Championship drivers Breen and Oliver Solberg, the cliche couldn’t be more applicable.
While Ott Tanak stole the headlines by scoring a memorable drought-breaking victory for M-Sport in Sweden, there was an equally gripping subplot; the return to form of Breen and Solberg. Breen rediscovered the consistent speed to challenge for a maiden WRC rally win, as Solberg, dropped by Hyundai before the end of last season, confirmed his star potential by dominating the WRC2 class.
Both drivers are eager to consign a 2022 season that promised much but delivered little to the history books. Twelve months ago Breen finally landed a coveted first full-time WRC drive, his series of impressive podium finishes as a part-timer at Hyundai in 2021 resulting in a two-year deal with M-Sport. Likewise, Solberg, the son of 2003 world rally champion Petter, earned a first break as a factory WRC driver, effectively filling Breen’s seat at Hyundai to share the third i20 N with the experienced Dani Sordo.
Ultimately, 2022 didn’t live up to expectations for either driver. Breen scored a third and second in Monte Carlo and Sardinia respectively, but his season transformed into a series of misfortune and errors that often led to confidence-sapping crashes and retirements. The Irishman was…
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