Rally - Breen in Greece

Craig with the McRae trophy

Ireland’s Craig Breen gave the new Peugeot 208 T16 its maiden victory on a European Rally Championship round when he won the weekend’s Acropolis Rally in Greece.

With co-driver Scott Martin, from Cumbria, Breen now leads the ERC standings after three rounds.

Bryan Bouffier and Xavier Panseri (Citroën DS3 RRC) finished second with Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran third in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta.

Breen’s performance also earned him the Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy, and afterwards paid tribute to Gareth Roberts, his best friend and former co-driver who lost his life in a rally crash in 2012. He also remembered his idol, the late Frank Meagher, who was the last Irishman to win a round of the European championship.

“It’s been the perfect weekend,” said Breen. “We showed a lot of speed on the tarmac on Saturday and everything worked just as well on gravel on Sunday so hats off to the team and Peugeot Sport for all their hard work. Frank Meagher was my absolute idol. But I remember Gareth and me asking ourselves the day before the accident how long it would take until we could be winning one of these events. A couple of years later and it’s an amazing feeling and thanks to Scott, he’s done a fantastic job.”