Circuit of Ireland Rally - Craig Breen On Top After Leg 1 - NEWS 📰 Autos, Business, Sports, India, Finance, Technology, Lifestyle, WRC, Health, Motorsport

Craig Breen Irishman Craig Breen has opened up a healthy lead after end of day one of Circuit of Ireland rally and is on course for an...

Craig Breen

Irishman Craig Breen has opened up a healthy lead after end of day one of Circuit of Ireland rally and is on course for another victory. He had a strong day at the office and outpaced his rivals all day long. Elfyn Evans had a bad day after he was forced to retire with an overheating engine thus ending his winning hopes.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz

Elfyn Evans made a good start to the rally by winning the very first stage and was leading by 6.4 sec from Craig Breen. After that problems hit the Brit as he developed overheating issues with his engine, but somehow managed to limp through 2nd stage. By now Craig Breen moved to top spot but by only nine tenth of a second over Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz. After Elfyn Evans exit there was no looking back for Craig Breen, he extended his lead to 25 sec after third stage before heading to midday service. Then he won two stages in the second loop, but made an error in the final street stage by spinning and losing 11 sec to his rival Kajetan Kajetanowicz. But his lead was intact by 25.1 sec. Craig Breen hadn't put a foot wrong on day one, his tyre choices were spot on and at the end he was in a commanding position.

Alastair Fisher

Kajetan Kajetanowicz had a good day behind the wheel of his Fiesta R5 winning a stage and had a good pace to keep the leader in sight. Still he lies second trailing by 25.2 sec. Alastair Fisher ends Leg 1 in third overall and had a good run, he is only 2.5 sec behind Kajetanowicz. British driver Martin McCormack finishes in fourth position 58.1 sec behind the leader but he is the leading BRC driver in the field. ERC runner Jaromír Tarabus and local man Josh Moffett was in fifth and sixth respectively. Fredrik Åhlin's tarmac debut was a good one. He started with a steady pace gradually moving up to fourth, but after hitting a road side kerb on the last stage he was in seventh overall. David Bogie, Sam Moffett and Jonathan Greer rounded off the top ten.

Wojciech Chuchała leads the ERC2 class in his Subaru Poland Rally Team. German driver Marijan Griebel is the leading Junior ERC class in his Opel Adam R2.

Overall Classification after Day One

It has been a action packed day on the Irish roads. But still eight stages to run on second day, so anything can happen. Stay tuned for further updates. Until then Happy Rallying!