Breen-Nagle take first podium for MRF in ERC
Talsi/Liepaja, 3 July 2021: With a second place finish at the Rally Liepaja, Team MRF Tyres today registered their first ever podium since entering the European Rally Championship in 2020.
It was a hard fought podium with Craig Breen and Paul Nagle battling against Europe’s best throughout the day.
The day’s action saw six stages and 90.92km of action in warm and sunny conditions on roads around the Latvian coastal town of Liepaja.
The Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 started the day in second place, involved in a great fight with Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (VW), Efrén Llarena/ Sara Fernández (Skoda) and Alexey Lukyanuk/Dmitriy Eremeev (Citroën). Just 13.4 seconds separated the four cars.
The day started with the 18.42km Neste stage. The roads on Saturday differed from the previous day with a harder surface being presented to the drivers.
Breen and Nagle came in third in the stage with a time of 9:18.2, just 3.4 seconds off the lead.
The pace was repeated on the second stage of the day, with Breen/Nagle taking second just 3.1 seconds off the stage win on the Invest in Liepaja! stage.
Third on stage nine, solidified Team MRF Tyres second place going into the final service. With just three stages remaining, Breen and Nagle sat in second 15.2 seconds off Gryzain/Konstantin in the lead and 16.0 seconds ahead of Lukanuk/Eremeev in third.
After final service, the need to push still existed. All of the drivers were at 100 percent, and there would be no room for mistakes.
SS10 saw a repeat of the Neste stage with Breen/Nagle coming home in fifth, 3.9 seconds off the stage win.
The eleventh stage would be a new one for the rally with the 9.93km blast setting up a setting up a grandstand finish.
Breen and Nagle were able to bring the car home third on the final stage to finish second in the overall standings as they stood at the final stopline.
The result demonstrates the advancements that Team MRF Tyres have made in the development of their tyres.
In Rally Poland, just the second gravel rally for Team MRF Tyres, Breen and Nagle took the first stage wins on gravel for MRF Tyres.
In Latvia, the first repeat rally for MRF Tyres, the team takes the first podium.
MRF Tyres customer cars Michal Pryczek/ Jacek Pryczek (Subaru Impreza N15) and Igor Widłak/Daniel Dymurski (Ford Fiesta Rally 3) ran strongly over the day.
Pryczek/Pryczek finished third in the ERC2 category and Widlak/Dymurski also finished third in the RC3 category.
Team MRF Tyres will be out in the next round of the European Rally Championship with the Rally di Roma Capitale on 23-26 July.
Quotes
Craig Breen, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“We had to push all rally long. There was no room to relax this weekend. This series is so strong and you have to fight for the podium.”
“Team MRF Tyres has achieved so much in this campaign and a podium was a big part that was missing. To achieve a podium for Team MRF Tyres is very satisfying.”
“The Hyundai i20 R5 felt so good through the rally but we had to push the entire way. The entire team at MRF Tyres should be proud of what we have achieved in a short amount of time.”
“We entered the European Rally Championship a year ago and Rally Liepaja is only our third gravel rally. It is a great result.”
*Results provisional
