Waterford driver Craig Breen achieved the dream of a lifetime when his Peugeot Rally Academy 208 T16 completed the dramatic final two stages at Banbridge and Gregorlough, to win the Discover  Northern Ireland Circuit of Ireland International Rally by less than seven seconds following a titanic struggle all the way.

With his English co-driver Scott Martin, Breen held off a late challenge from European Championship leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz of Poland in his Ford Fiesta. For most of the two days, Breen had being duelling for the lead with the Fiesta of Rob Barrable, and when the Dubliner went off the road three stages from the end while leading by 1.1 seconds, the Pole was 19.8 behind the new leader.

However, Breen’s rally almost came to an end when he slid into a bank on the penultimate stage, allowing Kajetanowicz to close the gap to just five seconds before the last test, and when Breen overshot a junction, he thought all was lost. Despite the few seconds this cost him, he still beat
Kajetanowicz by 1.4 on the stage to clinch one of the closest victories in the long history of the rally.

As the icing on the cake of a great weekend, Craig Breen takes over the lead in the European Rally Championship from Kajetanowicz, turning a five point deficit before the start into a three point lead.

After Friday’s eight stages, Breen was the overnight leader, ahead of Barrable, despite his front diff problems on the two street stages in Newtownards which saw his advantage slashed from eleven seconds to just 1.5.

With his mechanics desperately trying to find and cure ongoing turbocharger trouble, Breen dropped time to his rival on yesterday’s opener at Bull’s Brook, near Dromore, leaving the Dubliner eight seconds ahead, but the Waterford man immediately pulled the gap back to half a second on the next test.

For the following five stages, the pair took turns to lead, never more than two seconds apart, but on the second run through McGaffin’s Corner, Barrable was forced out after a tremendous drive.

Behind this epic three way struggle, the Moffett brothers from Monaghan in their Fiestas climbed through the field to take well deserved third and fourth positions at the finish, with Josh getting the better of his elder brother Sam, making it one of the best results ever for drivers from the
Republic, in first, third and fourth places overall.

ULSTER AC DISCOVER NORTHERN IRELAND CIRCUIT OF IRELAND RALLY AT BELFAST TITANIC QUARTER (ROUND 3 OF EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) 2h 04m 04.5s,
2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Jaroslaw Baran (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 04m 10.9s,
3 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Ford Fiesta RRC) 2h 05m 46.8s,
4 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta RRC) 2h 06m 28.6s,
5 Charles Martin/Thierry Salva (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) 2h 06m 45.7s,
6 Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3 R5) 2h 08m 36.2s,
7 Alexey Lukyanuk/Evgen Chervonenko (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 08m 40.6s,
8 Tommy Doyle/Eamon Hayes (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h 09m 28s,