The Irishman Craig Breen, driver of the Hyundai team, died this Thursday, at the age of 33, in an accident he suffered during training for the Croatian Rally, in the north of the country, reported the local portal Zagorje International.
The Croatian police confirmed the death of one of the participants in the rally, although without revealing the identity of the victim.
According to police sources, the car collided with the left side of the front end against a wooden post and the driver was killed instantly, while the co-driver suffered no serious injuries.
The accident occurred at 10:40 GMT between the Croatian towns of Stari Golubovac and Lobor, during tests for the Croatian Rally, which will take place from April 20 to 23.
Breen competed in both the World Rally Championship and the European Championship. In July of last year he was the first leader of the Estonian Rally, the seventh round of the World Championship, by winning the only section of the day, of only 1.66 km.
In the 2022 Croatian Rally he came in fourth place and at the end of the season he was seventh in the World Cup standings.
Hyundai Motorsport expressed its dismay at Breen's passing. "Hyundai Motorsport is deeply saddened to confirm that driver Craig Breen lost his life today following a crash during a test run ahead of Rally Croatia," the team posted.
"Co-pilot James Fulton, also Irish, was uninjured in the incident, which occurred just after noon local time," it added. Sending "its deepest condolences to Craig's family, friends and many fans," Hyundai Motorsport said it would not comment further at this time.
