Craig Breen obituary: Waterford-born star of rally driving who strove for perfection

Born: February 2nd, 1990

Died: April 13th, 2023

The rally driver Craig Breen, who has died aged 33, was a hugely popular figure in motor sport in Ireland and throughout the world. The death of the Waterford man last week, during a testing session ahead of the World Rally Championship event in Croatia, sent shock waves through the rally driving fraternity and beyond.

Rally driving was Breen’s passion from a young age, and his incredible talent for the sport was evident right from the start. In 2009, in his first outing in the World Rally Championship (WRC) aged 19, he won best in class and 25th overall in Rally Portugal. In that same year, he won the Irish and the UK Fiesta Sporting trophies, the Irish National Junior Rally Championship and the Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year award.

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In 2010, he won the Pirelli Star Driver Global Shootout Final and followed this up in 2011 by winning the WRC Academy Championship. In 2012, he won the Super 2000 World Rally Championship, the precursor to today’s WRC2 Championship. That same year, his co-driver and close friend, Welshman, Gareth “Jaffa” Roberts, was killed in an accident while competing in the Targa-Florio Rally in Sicily. From that day forward, Breen remembered him by carrying his nickname Jaffa on his car and helmet.

A factory campaign for Peugeot in the European Rally Championship followed in 2013, 2014 and 2015. And when Breen joined Citroen, he became the first Irish driver to sign up for a factory-supported World Rally Team. Driving with Citroen, he came third in Finland in 2016 and second in Sweden in 2018. Later, with Hyundai in 2020 and 2021, he scored three consecutive podium wins in Estonia, Ypres and Finland. In 2022, he finished third in Monte Carlo for M-Sport Ford as the WRC moved into the new hybrid era. Returning to Hyundai in 2023, he finished second in Sweden in February and this week’s Croatian event would have been his second rally with the Hyundai factory team this year.

All he ever wanted to do was rally driving. He was the boy from Waterford

James Coleman, Breen’s former manager and chairman of the Carrick-on-Suir motor club, said this week that Breen was “the people’s champion”.

“He was one of the top 15 rally drivers in the world. All he ever wanted to do was rally driving. He was the boy from Waterford. When he was competing in Australia or Japan, he was the same as when he was taking part in a local rally in Waterford.”

Coleman said that Breen gave everyone such pleasure. “He was a perfectionist – the ultimate professional and the ultimate messer too.”

Rallying in the blood

Craig Breen grew up on the Waterford/Kilkenny border, just outside the village of Slieverue. The younger of two children of Jackie and Ray Breen, he was a placid, easy-going child. He loved anything with wheels and started go-karting at the age of eight.

Obsessed with cars, he spent much of his spare time fixing them with his neighbour, mechanic John Purcell. But rallying was also very much in his blood, as his father Ray, owner of Keltech Engineering in Waterford, won the Irish National Rally Championship in 2005 and the Irish Forestry series in 2008.

[ Irish rally driver Craig Breen (33) dies after crash in Croatia ]

Not academically inclined, Craig showed little interest in studying when at the Abbey Community College in Waterford. In fact, his career guidance teacher advised his mother to speak to him because all he talked about was making a living out of racing cars, which seemed unrealistic at the time.

His sister, Kellie recalled how he was karting on the day his Leaving Certificate results came out and was more interested in his performance that day than in any of his academic results. The very day he got his driving licence, he switched from karting to rallying.

He was was a superstar, yet he was humble and made time for people. He was as genuine as they came

Even as he became more successful internationally, Breen never forgot his roots, and family and friends remained very important to him. His parents, who were among his biggest supporters, travelled the world to watch the events he participated in.

Known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, Breen was always open about how he felt about things. And while he had many great successes, he also had some challenging times – such when he had no drive in the World Rally series in 2019, or when his contract with M-Sport Ford ended prematurely three years later. But each time, he picked himself up again: in 2019, he returned home and won the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and then in early 2023, he rejoined Hyundai, immediately regaining his top form.

WRC commentator Mike Chen said that Breen was known the world over, yet he had a wonderful humility about him. “He was was a superstar, yet he was humble and made time for people. He was as genuine as they came,” said Chen who covers rallying events throughout the world for Red Bull TV.

Becs Williams, commentator for WRC events, said that chatting to and commentating with Breen had been the highlight of her professional career. “He garnered such attention from a global audience, yet he was at his happiest in a pair of overalls, cup of tea in his hand, with the prospect of a full day’s rallying ahead,” she said.

Williams said that one of her fondest memories was when Breen won in Sweden. “He just had such exhilarating joy at the end of the rally,” she said. “It was a tonic for people watching him do what he loved.”

In accordance with the wishes of his family and his co-driver, Cavan-born James Fulton, the Hyundai Motorsport team is taking part in the Croatia Rally this week. In honour of Breen, Hyundai will run two cars instead of three, and these two cars have had their livery changed to the Irish tricolour for the event. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile also announced this week that Breen’s car number 42 would be retired for the rest of the 2023 season.

Breen is survived by his parents Ray and Jackie, his sister Kellie, his brother-in-law Darragh, his nephew and godson Bobbie, his paternal grandmother Lily, his girlfriend Sarah Lavin, his extended family and his numerous friends in the world of motor sports.