Irish motorsport fans have enthusiastically welcomed the announcement by Citroën Racing that rising Irish star driver Craig Breen will be one of their drivers when the car manufacturer returns as a works team in the FIA World Rally Championship next season.

It is the first time that a driver from the Republic of Ireland, driving on an Irish licence has been signed by a works team in the WRC.

This is the golden ticket for the 26-year old Waterford man, who made his rallying debut in 2007. He came to prominence this season for the Abu Dhabi Total WRT. It was the event that sealed the drive for Craig and his co-driver Scott Martin who have been added to the Citroën team along with French driver Stéphane Lefebvre and his co-driver Gabin Moreau. They join Northern Irish driver Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle (Kerry), who were confirmed on the team at the end of last year.

It means Citroën have two crews considered to be among the most promising young talents in the WRC alongside Dungannon veteran Meeke and Nagle.

Craig Breen said: “I’m so excited to tell you all that Scott and I will be driving for Citroën Racing in the WRC for the next two years! This is the stuff that dreams are made of, thank you so much to everybody who has made this possible!”

Breen won the Billy Coleman Award in 2009 at the age of 19 but suffered a major setback in 2012 when an accident on the Targa Florio Rally in Sicily resulted in the death of his then co-driver, Gareth Roberts after their car cashed in to a guardrail. Since then Craig has dedicated many of his better results to his late colleague and friend.

He has driven for Citroën in a DS 3 in four WRC rounds this year achieving top 10 finishes in each. The season highlights included claiming a maiden podium with third place in Finland and finishing fifth in Corsica last weekend.

Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal: “We had several scenarios regarding the choice of our crews for the future. Kris Meeke was confirmed at the end of last year and has become the natural leader of the team.

“In choosing two young crews to complete the line-up, I don’t think we can be accused of having gone for the easy option. But this original solution is very much aligned with Citroën’s mindset. And having seen them compete this season for the Abu Dhabi Total WRT, we believe in the potential of Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre.

They have the natural talent, motivation and work ethic to win rallies. I would also say we are proud to take these young drivers up to the top level of the sport.”

Alex Sinclair, CEO Motorsport Ireland said: “It is an incredible achievement for any driver to secure a works drive. Craig has come through our youth programmes and fought hard over the years to prove himself as one of the world’s best and this is a just reward for all his effort. With Paul Nagle co-driving for Kris Meeke, the representation of Irish competitors, from both the North and South is phenomenal.”

The choice is very much in line with Citroën’s long-held policy aimed at identifying and developing talented young rally drivers. In the last 15 years or more, Citroën has identified some of the best in the business: Loeb, Ogier, Sordo, Neuville, Camilli and now Breen, Meeke  and Lefebvre are destined to add their names to this illustrious list.

Citroën Racing continues to prepare for its return as a works team in the FIA World Rally Championship. Since April of this year, the Citroën C3 WRC has completed seven development tests, both on gravel and tarmac, and is now very close to the final version.

Already involved in the development of the Citroën C3 WRC, Kris Meeke, Craig Breen, Stéphane Lefebvre and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi will continue to conduct testing until the new car completes homologation. At the same time, they will be competing at this year’s Rally de España (Meeke, Breen, Al-Qassimi) and Wales Rally GB (Meeke, Breen, Lefebvre) in order to acquire experience driving the current cars.

At the start of the season the team will enter two Citroën C3 WRCs - one for Meeke and the other for either Breen or Lefebvre. The exact distribution of events to drivers will be announced at a later stage and Citroën will start entering three cars as soon as possible.

The FIA’s World Motorsport Council recently decided it would let manufacturers enter three cars, the top two scoring points towards the Manufacturers World Championship.