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Hyundai has unveiled the special livery it will run throughout the upcoming Rally Croatia to honour Craig Breen following his recent death.
Breen lost his life last week whilst testing his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 ahead of this weekend’s fourth round of the World Rally Championship. Co-driver James Fulton was unharmed.
The funeral for the 33-year-old took place at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Ferrybank, Ireland, on Tuesday.
Hyundai has decided to compete in Croatia, albeit running a line-up of only two cars that will be adorned in the colours of the Irish flag in Breen’s memory.
#ForCraig 🇮🇪 @Craig_Breen was deeply proud of his Irish roots and was a beloved member of the Irish rally community. To honour his memory, we will be running with this special livery at @CroatiaRally, which incorporates the colours of the Irish flag 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/CwA5XocbHk
— hmsgofficial (@HMSGOfficial) April 19, 2023
Earlier this week, the WRC and the FIA took the decision to retire Breen’s #42 for the remainder of the year.
For the 20-stage event over four days and which covers just over 300 kilometres, all 55 competing cars will sport a black sticker on one of the door panels.
At 4.30pm local time on Thursday (12.30am Fri AEST) at the Zagreb service park, there will be a moment of silence for all those wishing to pay their respects. All service park personnel will also sport black armbands throughout the event.
Additional moments of silence will follow at the ceremonial start on Thursday evening, and again at the podium ceremony after the rally’s conclusion on Sunday.
The field was due to be 56 cars, however, it has been reduced by one following the withdrawal of Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean and co-driver John Rowan.
McErlean and Rowan, who were due to drive a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 in the WRC2, have opted to withdraw following Breen’s death.
