Ahlin and Breen through to Pirelli Star Driver shootout

16th August 2010

By Anthony Peacock

Swedish driver Fredrik Ahlin has bagged an entry for the Pirelli Star Driver global shootout later this year by winning the Shapphane Rally last Saturday.

The five-stage gravel event in Sweden was the Northern European qualifier for the worldwide Pirelli competition. Irishman Craig Breen finished the event 2.2 seconds behind Ahlin’s Subaru Impreza and, therefore, takes the second place in the PSD event.

Finn Esapekka Lappi showed a tremendous turn of speed, running second despite only driving a Honda Civic against four-wheel drive competition. Unfortunately for Lappi, he went off the road on the third stage and was unable to continue – the regulations stated a crash would rule a crew out.

After taking second place in his Fords Fiesta S2000, Breen said: “It was an honour to be nominated by Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council. I wanted to come out here and do my best. I’m delighted to have secured a place in the Pirelli Global Shootout. I drew the short straw in the shootout seeding and was first on road. This was a bit of a disadvantage as the gravel surface was very loose. I knew I would drop some time to the other competitors so I set the best pace I could. To have been nominated for this event, record my best WRC result in Finland and now qualify for the global final in just a matter of a few weeks gives me great confidence for the remainder of the season.”

Scotsman Dave Weston Jr finished third and missed out on a shootout place. Both the Subaru driver and Breen head for the penultimate round of the British Rally Championship in Northern Ireland later this week.