Even bigger chance: ERC graduate Breen gets all-new Citroën

After making his first appearance as a fully-fledged factory Citroën driver on last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, Breen will make his competition debut in a Citroën C3 WRC on the Scandinavian event from Thursday until Sunday.

“I'm very excited about making my competitive debut with the Citroën C3 WRC and I can’t wait to get started,” said Breen. “This is something that I've been waiting for all my life. I have good memories from this rally, not least the 2016 event, which was my first WRC outing with Citroën. I'd also say that this surface is [a] little bit more forgiving of minor mistakes, or at least that is the case when there are really compact snow banks. I feel confident in these surroundings, in the car and with the team. And although we don't really know what to expect, I'm ready to rise to the challenge."

Breen, ERC runner-up in 2015, has form when it comes to winning on snow: in 2015 he won the ERC-counting Rally Liepāja in a Peugeot 208 T16, the last time the Latvia event was run as a winter competition.