Kilkenny rally star back in the big league

By COLIN BARTLEY

KILKENNY’s Craig Breen makes his return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) tonight, as he is set to take on the 2019 Rally of Finland.

Breen, the 29-year-old Slievrue native, will sit into his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC alongside co-driver Paul Nagle for the 307.5km event.

It’s Breen’s first WRC start of the year in a factory set-up car and his first full WRC event for the South Korean manufacturer.

Breen lost his drive in the Citroen WRC team at the end of last season, and this drive in the Rally of Finland is seen as a possible path back to a full-time seat in the WRC.

This will be the tenth time Breen has driven in the Rally of Finland and is the event where he has taken his only podium so far – third place in 2016.

The rally begins this evening with the 2.31km Harju sprint in central Jyväskylä and finishes on Saturday.