Before WRC Rally Poland, Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team driver Craig Breen and his co-driver Scott Martin were facing a series of unknowns.

It would be the first time that Craig would drive competitively on the roads in this region of Poland, the first time to experience full gravel competition at the wheel of the Citroen DS3 WRC and as it turned out it would be Craig’s first time to drive the DS3 WRC in slippery wet conditions.

Considering Craig drove the car on gravel for the first time on Monday he felt good behind the wheel immediately at shakedown on Thursday morning. His first pass intentionally slow he was determined to learn his new machine gradually and build confidence through each of the three passes over the short stage. It was an insight into how the weekend would unfold when Craig and his French team mate Stephane Lefebvre finished the standings in 9th and 10th places respectively.

Craig vowed to take each stage as it came when the rally headed into the forests on Friday for a nine ultra-quick stages.

His dreams came true when he arrived at the finish of stage seven having posted third fastest time sharing it with none other than three times World champion Sebastian Ogier.Overall

It was another really good rally for Craig and Scott. They felt they couldn’t be anything other than happy with their strong showing throughout the event.

Sunday’s final four stages beckoned and as forecast the weather that had been glorious sunshine up until then swiftly turned to rain. The slippy 21.25km of stage eighteen was Craig’s first taste of driving a DS3 WRC in wet weather.  As conditions continued to worsen Craig and Scott kept their heads and finished in 7th to score a well-deserved points finish for the second time in as many finishes with the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team this year.

At the end of the rally Craig said “The result of this rally has exceeded all my expectations! The idea was to try and pick up where we left off in Sweden, but it was nonetheless five months since I last drove this car! I found the rhythm very quickly, setting some encouraging times on the first few stages. We were consistent, avoided making any major mistakes and made it to the end in a good position.”

Rally Result
1. Mikkelsen / Jaeger (VW Polo R WRC) 2:37:34.4
2. Tanak / Molder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +26.2
3. Paddon / Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +28.5
4. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +29.3
5. Latvala / Anttila (VW Polo R WRC) +33.8
6. Ogier / Ingrassia (VW Polo R WRC) +40.3
7. Breen / Martin (DS 3 WRC) +2:01.4
8. Østberg / Floene (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:04.6
9. Lefebvre / Moreau (DS 3 WRC) +5:12.0
10. Camilli / Veillas (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:23.1