Team MRF Tyres finished a commendable fourth in the Rally di Roma Capitale in Italy, the opening round of the 2020 European Rally Championship on Sunday.
The duo of Craig Breen and Paul Nagle, driving the Hyundai i20 R5, was fifth going into the final day. They were locked in an intense battle for the fourth position with Simone Tempestini and Sergiu Itu, the pairs swapping positions throughout the day.
Breen had started the final loop in the fifth spot, but immediately moved to fourth. He consolidated his position on the penultimate stage, building a 4.5 second gap. Breen took the fourth place, beating Tempestini by 1.3 seconds.
“We made gradual improvements over the weekend to learn how to get the best out of the tyres. To finish fourth is great and an absolute credit to the team. To think that this tyre barely existed a few weeks ago and to come out and be so competitive is a credit to the team,” said Breen.
In the ERC1 category, the Finnish combination of Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen, driving a Skoda Fabia R5 evo2 for Team MRF, ended 10th.
With both cars finishing the rally, the team has vital data to build on for the rest of the campaign.
