Hyundai Motorsport arrives at the Croatian Rally, the fourth round of the 2024 WRC, with its head and heart turned to Craig Breen. A year has passed since the passing of the driver who wore the colors of the sports section of the Korean manufacturer in 2023 and for this reason the team leaders have decided to remember him with two valuable initiatives.
The first, the least significant but with an immediate visual impact, concerns the livery of the three official Hyundai i20 N Rally1s that will race in Croatia. The cars of Thierry Neuville – Martijn Wydaeghe, Ott Tanak – Martin Jarveoja and Andreas Mikkelsen – Torstein Eriksen will be recognizable thanks to a livery dedicated to Craig.
Hyundai, in fact, decided to run the first asphalt rally of the 2024 WRC season with the roof and front and rear bumpers of the three cars colored in the shades of the Irish flag. In fact, a sort of repetition compared to what was done just a year ago, when the i20 N Rally1 ran with a livery completely dressed in Irish colours.
The second initiative – not immediately tangible but very nice – is an online auction in which the Korean manufacturer will try to raise funds for the Craig Breen Foundation, created a few weeks after Breen's death to try to help young aspiring pilots Irish people to grow in rallies.
We remind you that the foundation currently provides financial support to young drivers participating in the J1000 Forestry series in Ireland. The auction organized by Hyundai Motorsport will open at 9:00 am Italian time on April 16th and will end at 9:00 pm Italian time on April 23rd.
The items up for auction will be the helmets of current world championship leader Thierry Neuville, 2019 world champion and current Hyundai driver Ott Tanak, used last season. Not only that, because the auction will be made even more interesting by the introduction of two Hyundai suits used by Dani Sordo. To participate in the auction you can click on the following link: https://app.galabid.com/cbf24/items.
“Rally Croatia is the first fully asphalted event of the year, but after a milder Rallye Monte-Carlo, we have already had a taste of how the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid can perform on this surface,” said Cyril Abiteboul, president and team principal of Hyundai Motorsport.
“We have seen success here in the past; we know that both Thierry and Ott are capable of placing a car on the podium in Croatia and, thanks to Andreas' skills on the tarmac, we believe he can score good points next week too.”
“It's obviously exciting to come to this event following the loss of Craig a year ago, but we want to honor him on our return and have sought to do so both with our charitable initiatives and with the addition of the Irish flag on our car. For both championships and for Craig, we want to get as close to the top step as possible – a win would be a fitting end to the weekend.”
Craig Breen died last year, on April 13, near Lobor, Croatia, while carrying out a pre-event test at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. The native of Slieverue lost control on the slippery asphalt in a right-hand bend, ending up crashing into a fence located a few meters from the road. One of the posts of that fence came through the side window of his door, causing injuries that proved fatal.
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