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Breen scoops Ireland victory

WRC rising star Craig Breen racked-up another success this weekend with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit of Ireland Rally.

The 26-year-old Irishman, a member of the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team, drove a DS 3 R5 to victory on Saturday, beating Pole Kajetan Kajetanowicz in a Ford Fiesta R5 by 10.6 seconds.

Breen and co-driver Scott Martin took the lead on Friday's third stage on the Northern Irish coast after early leader Elfyn Evans retired his Ford Fiesta R5 with power steering and alternator problems.

That left Breen and reigning European champion Kajetanowicz to fight for the lead over the remaining 11 stages, while Alastair Fisher, in another Fiesta R5, kept the pressure on in third.

Breen's lead over Kajetanowicz stood at 25sec on Friday night, but dropped to 10.4sec during Saturday's leg after a gamble on wet-weather tyres backfired when the heavy rain he was expecting never materialised. He also had to overcome a puncture after striking a rock two stages from home.

After impressing on his recent WRC appearance in Sweden, Breen told wrc.com in March that he wouldn't have to wait "too much longer" for another championship outing in a DS 3 World Rally Car.

Zdroj: wrc.com