Pirelli Star Driver Craig Breen said he learned more from competing in last week's Rally Sweden than any other event in his career.
Breen would have finished in an amazing 10th place on his first ever snow rally, had he not been forced to stop behind a fellow competitor who crashed early in the rally. That problem cost Breen four minutes and any hope of a top 10. Despite that, he remained upbeat about his Scandinavian outing - having posted seventh fastest time on one stage.
"It was an amazing event," he said. "I take so much away from this event. You can't believe the speed you can carry through the corners by leaning the car on the snowbanks, it's unbelievable. Sure, it's a shame about the problem, but I've learned more than anywhere else here and that's going to help this year."
Breen qualified as one of this year's Pirelli Star Drivers at the shootout in Spain last year and will contest the WRC Academy in a Ford Fiesta R2. In preparation for his PSD debut in Portugal next month, he has purchased his own R2 and will use it for the first time on next weekend's BRC opening Rallye Sunseeker.
"It makes sense to use the R2 now, rather than the S2000 car," added Breen. "I need to use the R2 for more experience to make the best of the PSD rounds. I don't think we'll do all of the BRC, there are some clashes [with the PSD rounds], but we're certainly going to do a few events in the R2."