ON 19 JANUARY, Craig Breen will make history as the first Irishman to start a World Rally Championship event as a driver with a works team.

The importance and significance of this isn’t lost on the 26-year-old Waterford man. He knows how lucky he is to be in this position.

“It’s one of the proudest things I can think of. It probably won’t sink in until I’m sitting on the start line of the first stage but yeah it’s a dream come true and still feels pretty surreal the whole thing,” he tells The42.

For someone who grew up watching Irish rallying, and seeing his heroes never make it onto the world scene, it’s a special achievement which resonates with Breen.

“To be the first guy to get an opportunity to be in a WRC car and a factory team is something that I’m really proud of,” he says. “There have been a lot of guys before my time and I’m sure there will be some after my time who will have had the talent and just missed out on the opportunity.

“I really hope to grab the unique opportunity I have and make the most of it. That’s why I intend on enjoying every minute of it, because not many people get the chance to do what I do. It is something that I’m really proud of.”

In 2016, Breen was part of a semi-works team while Citroen took a year out to develop the new 2017 specification car. Breen joined Dungannon’s Kris Meeke and Frenchman Stéphane Lefebvre at Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team on a partial WRC campaign. The highlight for Breen during his few outings in 2016 was the third-place finish in Rally Finland, which he described in an emotional interview after the event as the best day of his life. He said he was surprised by how quick he could adapt to the team.

“It completely blew mine and everyone’s expectations out of the water,” he says. “I didn’t think we’d fit into the car so early and that the results would come so easy and so quickly; that was a huge surprise. I was doing things in the middle of this year that I hoped to be doing at the tail end of next year.

“After three events to be fighting for a podium and getting fastest times against the most experienced and fastest guys in the sport is something everyone is hugely proud of, especially in a sport like rallying where experience counts for so much. And when you’re battling against the odds with limited experience and get those votes of confidence every time you do a good stage time it really spurs you on.”

Breen admits he was anxious while driving for the team this year as he knew he had to prove himself and impress the team bosses to get a contract for the new season. And in October this year it was announced that he and Lefebvre would each be given two-year contracts to stay with the team.

“When I got the drive for 2016 we were really grasping at straws to try and save my career. That was a huge break when I got that and it was a big sense of relief. It really felt like a life-saving effort. But this time round I think we felt like we earned it. The talks were a lot more positive from day one so we knew it was going in a good way but to finally reach an agreement and for the whole thing to come together is a day I won’t forget for a long time,” he says.

New regulations mean no one knows which teams and drivers will be quickest when pitted against each other in January, so Breen is only focusing on delivering results for the people who put their faith in him. But he hasn’t lost sight of his ultimate target.

“I still want to be a world champion and that’s the main goal,” he says. “It’s not something we’re focusing on next year but I will enjoy myself, I think that’s the most important thing; to have fun and take pleasure in it. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of for a long time and I think if I can do that, we will find things pretty steady and it should go in the right way.”

Presseye / Matt Mackey/INPHO Presseye / Matt Mackey/INPHO / Matt Mackey/INPHO

Despite competing in rallying since he was a teenager, Craig is relatively inexperienced at competing at the top level of rallying, and said that having someone like Kris Meeke has helped bring an air of experience to the table for the coming season.

“Kris has been around a long time now, driving various cars. That does make a difference and brings a lot to the table. We are lucky in that regard that we aren’t all young. As well having his experience, Stéphane and I have different driving styles and different ways to look at things and it makes a successful package.”

There are plenty of Irish connections within Citroen. Besides Breen, there’s Paul Nagle – Kris’ navigator from Killarney – and Antrim’s Chris Patterson, who sits with Khalid Al Qassimi. Craig says it created a more welcoming dynamic during his first days in 2016.

“I knew Paul a long time; that helped when we started off on day one. It was a bit like walking into a team back home. They point me in the right direction but apart from the manufacturer’s championship you are out to paddle your own canoe. But still they made me welcome when I landed there on the first rally.”

There is little free time for a works World Rally Championship driver. Between testing, competing and other commitments, Breen reckons it could March before he has time off to come home again. However he is fit to see the positive in the hectic lifestyle.

“It’s hard being away from home but when you are in the airport getting flights you just think of what is waiting at the other side. It will either be home or a rally car so either which way it will be welcome. I love my job, I love doing what I’m doing, I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of the travelling and working with people and having my family around me at the rallies. That will far outweigh any of the boring stuff in between.”

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