WRC colleagues remember Craig Breen: 'We've lost a great character'

“I remember the very first rally he did in a Fiesta, which was around 2007,” he says.

“His Dad [Irish national rally champion Ray Breen] hired a car off M-sport for the Malcolm Wilson Rally. The was the very first time I met him – when he literally started his career.

“He then moved to the one-make Fiesta Sporting Trophy, which I was the co-ordinator for, and saw him and Gareth [Roberts, Breen’s late co-driver] experience all the highs and lows – I spent a lot of time with them.

“We were all just young and having fun, doing what we wanted to do. I don’t think anybody ever expected any of us to get to the level we all got to.”

While a superstar ability may not have been initially obvious, Millener says Breen’s continued commitment ultimately told its own story.

“You remember the person in general more than specific examples,” he says. “Without realising it, what started out as just a bit of fun blended into a professional career.

“He just ended up doing more and more rallies: the Fiesta Sport Trophy International, which was on WRC events, to Junior WRC, Super1000s and R5s.

“You don’t really recognise the talent early on, you just think ‘Let’s keeps progressing.’

“But deep down there was obviously this massive desire to do well. When he got to the Citroën WRC team [in 2016], that’s when you sat back and realised he had the potential to get to the top.”

Breen had suffered the intense tragedy of losing his close friend and co-driver Gareth Roberts in a crash during mid-2012, but found the inner strength to keep going to secure the IRC title at the end of the season.

“I got to know him during the Circuit of Ireland, and his supportive nature of wanting these rallies to do well merged in with the friendly atmosphere of these events. He was always happy to help.

“I think it’s fairly well known how great my passion for having a WRC rally in Ireland is – that would have only been beaten by one person and that would be Craig.

“There is nobody else that would be anywhere near touching Craig in the Irish rallying scene. His support and keenness to make it work were the biggest things I remember about him – he would do anything.”

Back on the stages though, Breen went from strength to strength by scoring podiums for Citroën and then Hyundai.

That led to a big break in 2022 as the lead driver for M-Sport in its new Rally1 Puma – but the season ended up being a testing one for both Breen and the team, with just two podiums scored all season.

“Sometimes, unfortunately, the dreams don’t work out,” says Millener. “But he came back in Sweden [with Hyundai] and showed us what he’s capable of.

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“I was looking through some messages last night that he sent me in 2022.

“Even through some of the tough times, there was still a bit of a laugh or positivity. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and was so upset that he wasn’t getting the results everyone deserved.

“As they said in the tributes, he just wanted to make people proud. We’ve all been robbed of seeing how he could have done, which is a real shame. But, in some ways, his last rally was one of his best.”

However, Millener emphasises that it’s Breen’s overall presence in the world championship that sticks in the mind.

“I think the hole has been left is something that none of us ever really appreciated until now,” he says.

“Craig was quick witted, funny, but also sympathetic and professional.

“We keep saying the WRC needs more characters, and now we’ve lost one of the best ones we had.

“There will be others, but when you lose someone who had so much more to go and potentially could have really helped build the sport, it’s hard to comprehend him not being around.

“They’re the type of memories and things that we as a sport need to work hard to preserve and build on.

“But let’s not be too negative – he spent his whole life doing exactly what he wanted to do, which is the nice thing you should remember.”