Peugeot Rally Academy star driver Craig Breen and his new co-driver Scott Martin will get their new partnership and their 2014 season underway next weekend by taking part in the first of two different rallies, in two in different countries and in two different cars.
First up Craig will get behind the wheel of his regular Peugeot Rally Academy 207 S2000 car at Rally Liepāja in Latvia, round two of the 2014 European Rally Championship (ERC). The event begins on Friday with a qualifying stage in the afternoon followed by a ceremonial start later on that evening but it’s on Saturday and Sunday that the Peugeot Rally Academy crew will get down to business by tackling 240kms of snow covered stages. Craig finished second here last year and although the rally has moved to a different area for 2014 he still admits to feeling confident and hopes to show good pace on what should be his last official Peugeot Rally Academy outing in the Peugeot 207 S2000 as the new Peugeot 208 T16 is due to replace it for his next ERC round in March. He confesses to being a little sad to see the 207 S2000 go as it holds both good and bad memories for him in his career but he’s relishing the opportunity of driving the new 208 T16 in competition after being instrumental in the development of the car over the past year.
With no time for his 24th birthday celebrations on the Sunday in Latvia Craig will head straight off into the unknown as he describes it to compete at Rally Sweden from the 5th to the 8th of February. This is the second round of the 2014 World Rally Championship (WRC) and this time Craig with permission from Peugeot Sport will be behind the wheel of a WRC. Albeit more familiar territory for Craig having competed on the event twice before, he has never done so in full WRC machinery. On both previous events he very successfully used an S2000 car and his 2nd place in 2012 contributed to him winning the SWRC title later on that year. Craig is taking nothing for granted saying ”Even though I’ve competed here before it will be a real baptism of fire for me and a completely different experience in this Car”. There is no doubt that the demanding schedule of both events will test Craig’s skill, talent and fitness level to the max but the Peugeot Rally Academy driver rarely if ever disappoints. You can follow Craig’s progress during both events by visiting www.craigbreen.com