WRC star dies aged 33

The factory Hyundai driver’s death in a testing crash ahead of next week’s Rally Croatia has left the rally and motorsport fraternity stunned and numb. The 33-year-old Irishman’s career has been tragically cut short before it reached its prime.

While a WRC win ultimately eluded Breen, his passion and rally knowledge was unquestionable, and his heart on the sleeve approach and quick wit made him a firm fans’ favourite. Nine WRC podiums, including six second-place finishes, proved that while he was a loveable character with an infectious smile, he had the skills behind the wheel to call himself an elite driver among the WRC’s current crop.

The Waterford-born Breen was perhaps always destined to end up somewhere in rallying, such was his passion for it influenced by growing up in a rally-mad family in Ireland. No doubt this passion was enhanced by his Irish national rally champion father Ray, who became a familiar sight behind the wheel of a MG Metro 6R4 and a Ford Escort WRC.

However, it was karting where Craig made his first step on the motorsport ladder, winning the 2006 Irish Formula A title before going on to compete in Europe in two years later after quenching his love of rally by hitting the stages for the first time 12 months earlier. Ultimately, the call was made to focus on rally full-time from 2009 and so began a journey that would take the Irishman to very top. That journey was not a straightforward one as a maiden full season in WRC only arrived last year with M-Sport.

There were signs from the outset of the talent that would one day grace the WRC podium. Breen quickly began to grab headlines, winning the International Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy, which he combined with triumphs in the British and Irish series during a first full-season in rallying. Among the prizes awarded was a year-long apprenticeship with M-Sport, which only helped grow his long-time love affair with Ford rally cars, brought about by watching his self-proclaimed hero, Irish rally great Frank Meagher, pilot blue oval products in his homeland.

A season in the British Rally Championship beckoned in 2010, combined with a campaign in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, where he finished second overall. But perhaps the most head-turning moment of that year was a victory at the Ulster Rally and a 12th overall competing against the WRC elite in a S2000 class car at Wales Rally GB.