Breen revelling in favourite status

Craig Breen's Acropolis Rally victory has given him the self-confidence to live up to his Circuit of Ireland favourite status this week.

The Peugeot driver took his maiden European Rally Championship win in Greece last month and arrives in Belfast as the series leader and number one seed for the first ever Circuit of Ireland European qualifier.

"I'm taking it everything in my stride," said Breen.

"I feel great about the whole 'favourite' thing.

"I've got one win out of the way and now everything feels like it's really starting to click. I've stopped questioning myself. I know I can do it.

"Winning the Circuit would mean everything to me. And if I had a message to send out to people it would be to tell them that I will be doing absolutely everything I can to make that happen.

"Nobody wants this more than me. It's the biggest event in Ireland and the biggest event for me."

Breen heads up a 38-strong ERC international field.

His main competition will come from his fellow 208 driver Kevin Abbring, Robert Barrable's Ford Fiesta R5 and the Skoda Fabia S2000s of Esapekka Lappi, Sepp Weigand and Neil Simpson.

Originally on Autosport.com