Irish Tarmac Championship leader Craig Breen made a welcome return to the World Rally Championship in Finland and finished a creditable seventh.

Breen, who lost his place with Citroen at the end of last season, was making his debut drive for Hyundai with Paul Nagle as co-driver. They competed in the third Hyundai i20 R5 and were highly impressive by taking seventh place against top class opposition in Rally Finland which is renowned as one of the toughest rounds of the WRC in Europe.

Indeed, Breen could have been better placed and would have beaten Hyundai team leader Thierry Neuville into sixth place but for a twenty seconds road penalty which left the Belgian ace 5.8 seconds ahead of the Irish pair at the finish.

Championship leader Ott Tanak in his Toyota Yaris extended his lead when claiming first place from Esapekka Latti and Jari-Matti Latvalla in third.