WRC Rally Italy
Breen puts “important" WRC podium return down to new approach
Craig Breen believes a “letting the car do the work” approach helped get his World Rally Championship campaign back on track after scoring an important podium in Sardinia.
Tom Howard
Edited: Jun 9, 2022, 6:30 AM
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The M-Sport driver revealed he had become “slightly lost” in previous rounds in Portugal and Croatia having tried to chase “something that probably didn’t need chasing” behind the wheel of his Ford Puma.
A more relaxed Breen reflected on the timing sheets in Italy as the Irishman finished second on the tough gravel roads to claim his first podium since January's Monte Carlo opener, equalling his career best WRC result in the process.
Breen emerged in the victory hunt after climbing to fourth on Friday before jumping ahead of teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet to move into the podium positions on Saturday morning.
The retirement of early leader Esapekka Lappi elevated Breen to second. The 32-year-old then subsequently fended off Hyundai’s Dani Sordo to finish 1m03.2s behind eventual winner Ott Tanak (Hyundai) on Sunday.
The result lifted Breen from sixth to fourth in the standings, but he remains 68 points adrift of championship leader Kalle Rovanpera.
“I feel good, but tired. It has been a long weekend, but I feel more relaxed,” said Breen.
“Come what may from the weekend I just felt better in myself. I felt better in my driving. I enjoyed it more and I would say I got slightly lost in the last couple of rallies, as I was chasing something that I probably didn’t need to be chasing.
“I just tried to resort to letting the car do the work and I enjoyed the weekend and for sure the speed was a lot better.
“I was really happy with the pace of the car and honestly it was the first time I felt really confident on these type of roads, and I think our pace was really quite strong.
“For sure, I think there was a margin where I could push even more but it was important to get a podium like this and get things back on track.”
Craig Breen, Paul Nagle, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Photo by: M-Sport
Breen was one of two M-Sport Ford Pumas to finish in the top five as teammate Loubet came home in fourth to score his career-best result in the WRC.
The Frenchman had run as high as third before a puncture cost him time on Saturday morning. However, the result, in only his third appearance of the season, surpassed his previous best of seventh, achieved in 2021 and 2020.
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