Rally driver Craig Breen dies testing his car in Croatia: 33 years old, raced in Argentina and scarred by another tragedy

the Irish Craig Breendriver of the Hyundai team, died this Wednesday, at the age of 33, in an accident suffered during training for the Croatian Rally, in the north of the country, as reported by the local portal Zagorje International.

The Croatian police confirmed the death of one of the participants in the demonstration, without revealing the identity of the victim.

According to police sources, the car collided with the front left side against a wooden pole and the driver was killed instantly, while the co-driver was not seriously injured.

The accident occurred at noon between the Croatian towns of Stari Golubovac and Lobor, during practice for the Rally of Croatia, scheduled from 20 to 23 April.

Breen competed in both the World Rally Championship and the European Championship. He also took part in the traditional Córdoba Rally in the 2018 and 2017 editions of that competition.

In July last year he was the first leader of the Rally of Estonia, the seventh round of the World Championship, winning the only stretch of the day, of just 1.66 km.

In the 2022 Rally Croatia he finished fourth and at the end of the season he is seventh in the World Cup standings.

His WRC career began in 2009, driving a Ford Fiesta in Portugal and only scored his first points in 2012, thanks to a sixth place finish in the Spanish rally.

That year Breen suffered a tragedy which marked his debut in professional motorsport: during a stage of the Rally Targa Florio, in Sicily, he suffered another accident from which he managed to escape alive but not his co-driver, the Welshman Gareth Roberts, who died in instant crash.

Eleven years later, death ended up finding him on an inhospitable road in northern Croatia. Several motoring organizations have expressed their grief over the young driver’s departure, including the WRC, Formula 1 and FIA.