Probe by MRF Tyres shows cause of Craig Breen’s Rally Liepāja delay

Liepaja, 19 August 2020: The Irish ace, a five-time FIA European Rally Championship event winner, had been in the fight for fourth place until he and co-driver Paul Nagle lost almost a minute on stage seven of the high-speed gravel event due to a damaged tyre.

After reviewing footage from the camera fitted in Breen’s Hyundai i20 R5, it was discovered that a corner marker had been hit by a car running higher up the order, which had fallen into the road. The obstruction was impossible to see from behind the wheel, and Breen inadvertently ran over it, although he was able to battle back to finish fifth overall and land fourth-place ERC points.

“It was a tough rally but we showed some good pace,” said Breen, who is leading the MRF Tyres’ development programme in the ERC along with Finnish team-mate Emil Lindholm. “It was important that we got to the end of the rally to pick up good points and get more data for the development of the tyres.

“We are pushing the tyres to the limits and we are aggressive on the development of the tyre. The MRF Tyres are durable and it is important to learn develop the tyres. We are happy with the direction of the development of the tyres.

“Being able to take a second on one stage was good and shows our pace. What happened to us on SS7 could have happened to anyone. I am looking forward to continuing on gravel at the next round in the Azores.”