Little more than a month has passed since 21-year-old Kilkenny man Craig Breen crossed the finish line of Rally GB, winning the Academy World Rally Championship and its €500,000 prize.
In those final few seconds of the rally, the entire championship hung in the balance. Breen kept his nerve as he watched his nearest rival Egon Kaur navigate the last stage, waiting with bated breath to hear his final stage time.
“When [we heard] I had won, there was just this complete flow of emotion,” he recalls.
“I don't think I will ever find the words to describe it. After all the effort we had put in. A lot of my supporters were there too, they had travelled over to Wales.”
Since that day life has been all go.
As Breen discusses his success with the Kilkenny Advertiser, he is preparing to depart for an awards ceremony in India, having just returned from an instruction course in Melk, Austria.
“It was about every aspect of being a professional driver – fitness, dealing with media, psychology,” he says.
From here on in, this sort of thing will be part and parcel of the Slieverue man’s life.
Things might have turned out very differently, however. Rallying, Breen admits, was not where he started out.
“I had raced go-karts for 10 years, between 1998 and 2008,” he recalls.
“I was heading toward singles, like Formula 1, but I felt I didn’t really enjoy it. I decided to do rallying then in 2008 – but as a hobby, not thinking of doing anything full time.”
New territory perhaps in the driver’s seat – but the 18-year-old Breen was no stranger to the scene. His father, Ray, was already well known in rallying circles.
“My dad was twice national champion so we were always very involved in the Irish rallying scene,” he says.
As well as this paternal influence, Breen was inspired by the likes of rallying legend Frank Meagher, having grown up watching the great man’s petrol-fuelled antics.
Quickly mastering his new art, it was not long before Breen had begun to cause something of a stir among the motorsport community. In 2009, he was crowned Young Irish Rally Driver of the Year.
“This year, things really took off,” he says.
Suddenly, Breen was competing in the Academy WRC.
“I won my place with a scholarship in the Pirelli Star Championship,” he explains.
“It’s basically a class within the World Championships, it was previously the ‘Junior’, so this is the first year of the new one. The best 20 rally drivers compete in identical cars.”
There is a voluminous list of qualities required to make it at the top level of international motorsport. Natural talent: yes. Hard work: yes. A little bit of luck: certainly.
But as most rally drivers will testify, a strong nerve is an invaluable asset. Psychology has become a major aspect of modern rallying – coolness under pressure is vital.
Breen knows this as much as anyone, as the battle for the championship between himself and his arch-rival Egon Kaur went right down to the final stage on the final day.
“It’s a friendly rivalry, but there is a lot of psychological stuff going on all the time, because that’s a lot about what rally is about,” says Breen.
“He’s a great guy though, a good competitor.”
Likewise, there is a strong bond between Breen and fellow Irish driver Alastair McRae, who was also competing in the Academy WRC this year.
“I get on very well with Alastair, he’s a very close friend,” he says.
While in the Academy, mechanic teams and cars are assigned at random, Breen has a loyal group of supporters who help him along the way. And then of course, there is Gareth Roberts, his co-driver, whose comradeship he enlisted through social networking, bizarrely.
“It came together on Facebook – his driver had lost his licence and he was left high and dry with no rally driver,” he says.
“We just got to chatting and he has been my co-driver ever since!”
Breen’s success this year means a guaranteed entry into the next level up in world rallying, and his prize money means he will have access to all the right tools of the trade. But his ultimate goal remains the WRC proper, where the greatest drivers in the world ply their trade.
“Next year I’ll be competing in the SWRC, which is one step down from the main WRC,” he says.
“I would hope one day to get it, I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.”
Breen can dream, but unlike many people’s most fanciful aspirations – his dream is one that is clearly very much within grasp. The future is surely bright for this young Kilkenny man.
