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Breen impressed throughout on his first start of a partial campaign for Hyundai this year after leaving a full-time seat at M-Sport over the off-season.
The Irishman, boosted by a favourable road position, found himself with an opportunity to claim a maiden WRC win after scoring four stages wins that resulted in a rally lead that lasted until Saturday night.
Breen was locked in a tense head-to-head with his M-Sport replacement Ott Tanak for the majority of the rally before ultimately finishing second 18.7s adrift, after Hyundai’s decision to deploy team orders to place Breen behind teammate Thierry Neuville backfired.
The 33-year-old admitted the result was much needed for his own mental state after difficult 2022 littered by crashes and retirements that took him to some dark places.
“Obviously it is an incredible feeling,” Breen told Motorsport.com.
“It has been a long more than 12 mont …