Breen’s passing tragic on so many levels

It’s coming up to 20 years since the great man passed away following a road accident before the Race To The Sky Hillclimb, and my talk with Peggy will form the next episode of our DustTrails podcast series.

Yesterday would also have been Possum’s 67th birthday, a life taken too soon.

Little did we realise that April 13th would also become even more etched in rallying’s history just hours later when Craig Breen was tragically killed in a testing accident.

How can it be? Today’s rally cars are without question the safest ever, having been designed from the ground up with the protection of the driver and co-driver as the number one factor.

Yet here we are, mourning the loss of one of the most loved drivers of our time.

It’s heartbreaking on so many levels, but most devastatingly for Craig’s family and loved ones.

2023, it seems, is already a year that many of us would rather forget.

We’ve only just got over a global pandemic, now some of the world’s greatest motorsport drivers have been taken from us way too soon. First Ken Block, now Craig Breen.

That often repeated phrase “motorsport is dangerous” is of little help at a time like this.

Arguing the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have beens’ is of no value. The reality is that we’ve lost a wonderful rally driver, and an even better person.

Craig Breen never won a round of the World Rally Championship. He came mighty close, and many truly believed that his first win wasn’t far away and that he was next on the list to join the 80 who had already done so.

He had the talent, he just hadn’t quite had the luck. In fact, his last WRC drive could easily have been his first win – second at Rally Sweden in February after leading for much of the rally.

Now, we’ll never know how good Craig Breen could have been as a rally driver, but what is without question is how good Craig Breen was as a person.

You only had to listen to his stage end interviews to hear how passionate he was about rallying, and how emotional he was about it.

In his passing, you only have to read the comments from his friends and rivals to know how loved and respected he was as a man.

Rallying has lost one of the great ones. Rest in peace Craig, you’ll be forever remembered.

Flat to the square right …