Craig Breen's Fatal Crash @ Croatia Rally 2023 (Aftermath)
- 6 months ago
Irish rally star Craig Breen lost his life in a testing accident which happened on Thursday, 13 April 2023 in Croatia, on the route of a special stage of the Croatia Rally, fourth round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship, scheduled to be contested the following week.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 driven by Craig Breen went off the slippery asphalt road at 12h40, at a relatively low speed near the village of Lobor in Krapina-Zagorje County, northern Croatia. The car struck a wooden fence with the front-left side. A post from the fence intruded into the cabin through the driver’s side window and Craig Breen received unsurvivable injuries.
The stage was immediately stopped and the medical team was rapidly on the scene. But doctors could do nothing tho save Craig Breen's life. Death was instantaneous. His co-driver James Fulton escaped serious injury.
The 33-year-old was preparing for his second outing of the 2023 season as Hyundai’s third works driver, after finishing second in the Rally Sweden in February. Craig Breen rejoined the South Korean marque in 2023 following a full season with team M-Sport Ford in 2022. His Swedish result equalled his best finishes in his career's 82 World Rally Championship (WRC) starts, having already finished second in Sweden 2018, Estonia 2020 and 2021, Belgium 2021 and Sardinia 2022. He scored a total of thirty WRC stage wins.
Born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1990, Craig Breen was passionate about rallies from an early age, being the son of Ray Breen, a former Irish National Rally Champion. He started his career as a karting driver and made a full-time switch to rallying only in the late 2000s. He contested both the British Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2010, driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 and progressed to the WRC only the following season. He took part in the WRC Academy, winning the inaugural Academy Cup title.
On 16 June 2012, Craig Breen was involved in a horrific accident, during the Targa Florio Rally, a round of the IRC-Intercontinental Rally Challenge, held in Sicily. Breen escaped unhurt, Welshman Gareth Roberts, his best friend and faithful co-driver since 2009, was killed. Their Peugeot 207 S2000 struck the edge of a guardrail on the right side of the road and a piece of armco entered the cockpit, inflicting Roberts unsurvivable injuries.
In Craig Breen honor, team Hyundai Motorsport contested the Croatia Rally with two i20 N cars, both bearing a special livery in the Irish flag colors.
R.I.P
The Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 driven by Craig Breen went off the slippery asphalt road at 12h40, at a relatively low speed near the village of Lobor in Krapina-Zagorje County, northern Croatia. The car struck a wooden fence with the front-left side. A post from the fence intruded into the cabin through the driver’s side window and Craig Breen received unsurvivable injuries.
The stage was immediately stopped and the medical team was rapidly on the scene. But doctors could do nothing tho save Craig Breen's life. Death was instantaneous. His co-driver James Fulton escaped serious injury.
The 33-year-old was preparing for his second outing of the 2023 season as Hyundai’s third works driver, after finishing second in the Rally Sweden in February. Craig Breen rejoined the South Korean marque in 2023 following a full season with team M-Sport Ford in 2022. His Swedish result equalled his best finishes in his career's 82 World Rally Championship (WRC) starts, having already finished second in Sweden 2018, Estonia 2020 and 2021, Belgium 2021 and Sardinia 2022. He scored a total of thirty WRC stage wins.
Born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1990, Craig Breen was passionate about rallies from an early age, being the son of Ray Breen, a former Irish National Rally Champion. He started his career as a karting driver and made a full-time switch to rallying only in the late 2000s. He contested both the British Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2010, driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 and progressed to the WRC only the following season. He took part in the WRC Academy, winning the inaugural Academy Cup title.
On 16 June 2012, Craig Breen was involved in a horrific accident, during the Targa Florio Rally, a round of the IRC-Intercontinental Rally Challenge, held in Sicily. Breen escaped unhurt, Welshman Gareth Roberts, his best friend and faithful co-driver since 2009, was killed. Their Peugeot 207 S2000 struck the edge of a guardrail on the right side of the road and a piece of armco entered the cockpit, inflicting Roberts unsurvivable injuries.
In Craig Breen honor, team Hyundai Motorsport contested the Croatia Rally with two i20 N cars, both bearing a special livery in the Irish flag colors.
R.I.P