Craig Breen produced a stellar performance in Rally Sweden, scoring the second WRC podium of his career. The Irishman finished second (behind Thierry Neuville) which was also 4th top 3 place for the Citroen C3 WRC.
Breen’s WRC career actually started in Sweden – in 2014. He used well the ice driving lessons his parents gave him when he was 15 as a Christmas present. Even Craig’s WRC Citroen debut was in the same rally but in 2016. His performance earned him highest praises from the whole team and its principal Pierre Budar.
Were you expecting Craig to be in such good form at this event?
“I don’t think many people expected him to do quite so well, perhaps including Craig himself. Obviously, we have always had great faith in him, but he really blew us away [in Sweden] by being both very quick and incredibly consistent. What he did this weekend was quite simply extraordinary. He claimed second place in normal racing conditions, showing control and race craft befitting that of a much more experienced driver. It’s definitely another big step forward in his development. He clearly loves racing in Scandinavia because after finishing third at Rally Finland in 2016, he has now recorded the best result of his WRC career to date in Sweden.”
This result also confirms the progress of the C3 WRC.
“Yes, it shows that our car has serious potential. It also confirms that the work done on gravel since last year’s Rally Sweden has been valuable and effective, especially on the suspension geometry, the dampers, the torque distribution and the settings of the active centre differential. Although we had to work hard in order to widen the car’s operating window, we have also been constantly improving and fine-tuning the set-up of the C3 WRC, and this result illustrates this perfectly. Lastly, it’s a just reward for the team: the guys put in some really long hours in pre-event testing, probably putting in five days’ worth of hours in four days of testing.”
What did you think of the performances of Kris Meeke and Mads Østberg?
“Mads certainly made a positive return to the team: he had a consistent race, despite his lack of experience in the C3 WRC, and secured precious points for us. He also provided us with a different approach to set-up options. He undoubtedly also gave Craig some interesting ideas in terms of defining his own set-up. We’ll now look together at the possibilities of repeating the experience.”
“With regards to Kris, his race was hampered from the start by his road position on day one. However, he was fulfilling his role of team leader perfectly, trying to secure a few points when he suffered his misfortune. He was really unlucky because such a minor mistake shouldn’t have had such serious consequences. But let’s focus on the positives: he’ll have a good position in the running order in Mexico, where he won last year.”
Congratulations to @Craig_Breen & @scottmartinat for this amazing performance at @RallySweden! pic.twitter.com/HSPHqSntig
— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) February 19, 2018
