Craig Breen

[ouvreur]

The other thing I don’t like about the suggestion that this corner was ‘obviously dangerous’ is the implication that Craig / James, or the test coordinator, or the local organisers, should have known better.

Craig and James will have been around hundreds if not thousands of corners far more ‘dangerous’ than this one. Indeed, knowing the incident happened around 11:40, it’s unlikely this was their first run of the day. They would have negotiated the same corner several times prior to the crash.

It should almost go without saying since it’s so obvious, but crews at the top level will bring any concerns they might have about safety - people standing in crazy places, unsuitable road conditions, cars parked too close to the road etc. - during their recce or any of their test runs.

Hyundai’s test coordinator is extremely experienced, and fantastic at what he does. He will have checked the road beforehand, making sure it was fit for purpose and that safety measures were in place. There’s a chance that he’s thinking “if only” now, but at the same time, I expect he already knows that he did all he could and that, short of putting a tyre wall outside every corner, there’s no way he could have prevented what happened.

Similarly for the test and rally organisers - they may well be doing a bit of soul searching now, wondering what they could have done differently then, and do next weekend, to prevent such a freak incident from happening. But again, short of either neutering the competition by removing ‘dangerous’ corners and stages from the itinerary, or lining all the roads with tecpro barriers, what can be done? The nature of the sport is that it uses roads and goes to places that circuit races don’t.

By all means, everyone can think about how to prevent it from happening to anyone else. Maybe all fences and barriers with horizontal elements could have some protection put in front of them, or have those horizontal elements removed. But where do you stop?

[philippebugalski]

The other thing I don’t like about the suggestion that this corner was ‘obviously dangerous’ is the implication that Craig / James, or the test coordinator, or the local organisers, should have known better.

Craig and James will have been around hundreds if not thousands of corners far more ‘dangerous’ than this one. Indeed, knowing the incident happened around 11:40, it’s unlikely this was their first run of the day. They would have negotiated the same corner several times prior to the crash.

It should almost go without saying since it’s so obvious, but crews at the top level will bring any concerns they might have about safety - people standing in crazy places, unsuitable road conditions, cars parked too close to the road etc. - during their recce or any of their test runs.

Hyundai’s test coordinator is extremely experienced, and fantastic at what he does. He will have checked the road beforehand, making sure it was fit for purpose and that safety measures were in place. There’s a chance that he’s thinking “if only” now, but at the same time, I expect he already knows that he did all he could and that, short of putting a tyre wall outside every corner, there’s no way he could have prevented what happened.

Similarly for the test and rally organisers - they may well be doing a bit of soul searching now, wondering what they could have done differently then, and do next weekend, to prevent such a freak incident from happening. But again, short of either neutering the competition by removing ‘dangerous’ corners and stages from the itinerary, or lining all the roads with tecpro barriers, what can be done? The nature of the sport is that it uses roads and goes to places that circuit races don’t.

By all means, everyone can think about how to prevent it from happening to anyone else. Maybe all fences and barriers with horizontal elements could have some protection put in front of them, or have those horizontal elements removed. But where do you stop?

Absolutely correct.

As someone who drove on that road countless times and watched dozens of PET's and development test on that particular road section this is just terrible fate and bad luck.
Corner speed there in rainy conditions is about 70ish-80ish km/h and if a car would go off a million times then this is ''once in a million'' situation. Still 2 days after in complete shock and disbelief...

RIP Craig, we will miss you!

[SubaruNorway]

You wouldn't normally crash there so early in the corner either, but there was some water running across the road just at the breaking i saw, just one of those freak accidents.

Terribly sad, he will be missed a lot. I remember thinking a few times lately that Craig was the only one i got good footage of on every stage, always pushing and enjoying himself. The tricky jump in Oittila in the dark in 21 when no one else was jumping and the "Yeeehaaa" corner in Sävar this year are som of my best recent memories.
Rest easy Craig

[dimviii]

You wouldn't normally crash there so early in the corner either

this i thought too.Or he had lost his line from previous corner.

[Yugo_para_siempre]

Previously there is a reasonable straight.

If he had bad line at the previous corner, likely he would have recovered it at this straight. No?

In any case. This lovely person did not have any luck. This is just unreal...

[denkimi]

you can't remove all dangers along the stage. but they could and should have improved the protection against intrustion of foreign objects into the cars.

from the very first rally it was obvious that the drivers are very exposed in these new cars. There are just tubes to protect them, but plates or something to stop stuff getting into the car. by this age, the drivers should be seated in a carbon monocoque that gives them allround protection.
https://www.ewrc.cz/images/2022/phot...l_z71_6379.jpg

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Local media report:

"The Hyundai, driven by Breen, ran off the road and hit a utility pole with the left front. His co-driver James Fulton, with whom he started working at the end of last season, was not seriously injured in the accident.

Shock and disbelief rule the Zagorje town where the tragedy happened. According to initial information, the car also hit the fence, part of which broke through the windshield and caused fatal injuries to the driver."

https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/crna...-srce-15325473

[seb_sh]

you can't remove all dangers along the stage. but they could and should have improved the protection against intrustion of foreign objects into the cars.

from the very first rally it was obvious that the drivers are very exposed in these new cars. There are just tubes to protect them, but plates or something to stop stuff getting into the car. by this age, the drivers should be seated in a carbon monocoque that gives them allround protection.
https://www.ewrc.cz/images/2022/phot...l_z71_6379.jpg

I was thinking the same thing, if there is something to take away from this that is to have an investigation about improving cockpit intrusion defense. Especially as the bodywork seems to be now more flimsy and easy to break off, seems that is an area that should be looked at.

I was quite shocked when I read the news,
couldn't even find any words. I'm saddened every time I think of WRC and Craig, it's big loss to the championship. A driver who could challenge for podiums and keep the top guys honest and who had a great character and personality, the WRC scene is poorer without him. Personally I loved it every time he would say he's happy and grateful to be driving in the WRC at the stage ends, it made me happy to be watching and be a bit more mindful that I'm following live rallying and it made me enjoy my time watching even more. I miss Craig.

[becher]

you can't remove all dangers along the stage. but they could and should have improved the protection against intrustion of foreign objects into the cars.

from the very first rally it was obvious that the drivers are very exposed in these new cars. There are just tubes to protect them, but plates or something to stop stuff getting into the car. by this age, the drivers should be seated in a carbon monocoque that gives them allround protection.
https://www.ewrc.cz/images/2022/phot...l_z71_6379.jpg

Judging by the few pictures we've seen, the outcome would have been the same in a WRC, as the fence went through the windshield and the bodywork was not really damaged.

[Ds3]

I'm reading more and more posts here from people who want to turn RALLY sport into a formula 1 race, please move to their forum section and don't pollute here. There you can buy some popcorn and stay on the sofa, maybe even get some sleep. This forum is for man..

Rest in peace Craig Breen..Gone too soon!