Breen:
Academy
title dream
still alive

Kaur, from Estonia, has been on sensational form all season and edged out Breen for victory on the high-speed stages of Neste Oil Rally Finland by a scant margin of 2.6s.

But Breen, one of six Pirelli Star Drivers competing in the driver-training category, is refusing to give up on winning the title and the 500,000 Euros career development scholarship prize handed out to the eventual champion.

“I was bitterly disappointed after coming so close to winning in Finland but I absolutely believe I can still win the title,” said the 21-year-old from Ireland. “My times were right up there in Finland, which gives me a lot of confidence going into the Tarmac rallies where I know Egon doesn’t have the experience.

“It’s going to be difficult in Germany because drivers like Jan Cerny and Andrea Crugnola are good on Tarmac and will be out to prove they’re quick because they’ve not had much luck this season. But I’ve done a few Tarmac rallies now and I’ll be doing a practice rally in Ireland this weekend to get up to speed.”

Breen, who is joint second in the WRC Academy Cup standings with Australian Brendan Reeves, believes he could have beaten Kaur in Finland had it not been for a series of delays and early setbacks.

“I struggled to find a good set-up at the rear of the car on Friday’s stages around Lahti but once we got back up to Jyvaskyla where the stages weren’t as soft we found good speed,” said Breen. “Egon drove very well, don’t get me wrong, but I was delayed by a couple of accidents and catching drivers in front of me on the stages. I also had a couple of spins and dropped about 20 seconds. When you add it all up I lost a lot of time. It’s frustrating when it happens but that’s rallying.”