Team MRF Tyres to take part in European Rally Championship

: Team MRF Tyres will be returning to the international rally stage this year with a full season in the European Rally Championship campaign.

Ireland's Craig Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle will spearhead the campaign driving a Hyundai i20 R5 prepared by the Italian BRC Racing Team, a press release here said.

Breen is an experienced rally driver, having competed in 61 WRC rallies, twice finishing on the podium while Nagle has won five WRC events as a co-driver.

The MRF Tyres Rally team has won the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) nine times, and made an entry into the World Rally Championshop in 2018 in the WRC2 class for gathering data for product development.

This led to a year of testing and development in 2019 of the next generation of MRF Tyres with Breen and WRC legend Mikko Hirvonen.

I am really happy to start this adventure with MRF Tyres. We worked together last year placing emphasis on tyre development. Now I am really looking forward to embarking on this journey in the European Rally Championship," Breen said.

The first round of the European Championship is the Azores Rallye, which will take place on the Portuguese island from March 26 to 28.

MRF Tyres vice-chairman and managing director Arun Mammen said: MRF Tyres has a long and proud history in rallying in India and the Asia Pacific region. With nine APRC titles, it is the right time to take the next step and take Indian motorsport into the European Rally Championship."