FIA ERC – Circuit of Ireland Rally 2016 European Rally Championship Resume Eurosport PT Images edited by rosmanao videos.
Craig Breen triumphed in a renewed rivalry with Kajetan Kajetanowicz to win the Circuit of Ireland for the second straight year upon his return to the FIA European Rally Championship.
Leading ever since a sublime drive on the longest stage of the rally on SS3, Breen had over half a minute in hand at service on Friday evening, but a spin on the subsequent Newtownards TT street stage was followed by further time losses at the start of leg two when the decision to run super-soft tyres left him unable to match the times of his 2015 ERC title rival Kajetanowicz.
On a charge, defending ERC champion Kajetanowicz had brought the gap down to just over 10 seconds by the mid-day service, and after a rock in the road damaged Breen’s left-rear tyre on SS12, there were a mere 5.2s between them with two stages to go. Breen responded perfectly however with a fastest time in the penultimate stage in his Citroën DS3 R5 on Michelin tyres, and finished up 10.6s clear.
FIA ERC Circuit of Ireland Rally 2016 FIA European Rally Championship Resume Eurosport PT Images
The Irish driver, who achieved a childhood dream by winning the rally for the first time last year, said: “I have to thank everybody for making this possible. I felt it slipping from my grasp today, we really had to dig deep.”
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