Breen moved back from M-Sport Ford to Hyundai at the end of last season and will m🥃ake his first appearance for the Alzenau-based outfit on the Umea event which starts on Thursday evening.

The Irishman has already sampled the I20 N Rally1 car in the build up to the competit♑ion’s sole winter round during a pre-event test he comp🧔leted last week alongside countryman James Fulton.

His track record between the snow banks has been mixed to say the least, the best performance stretching back to his Citroen Racing days in 2018 when he finished in second spot with Paul Naꦐgle.

“Rally Sweden is always an event that I enjoy, and a place where I have been able to bring home some of my best results in the♉ past,” said Breen, who will be looking to make the most of his favourable road position on the opening day if there are few wintry deposits overnight Thursdꦫay into Friday morning.

“We only have one rally a ye𝓡ar where we get to drive in true winter conditions with the studded tyres, so that makes Sweden even more 💜special.

“The stages will be very straight and very fast, meaning you need to be committed to be quick. With quite a few stages taꦅking place in the dark, it is really important to make sure the pace 𓆉notes are accurate.”

As for the kind of result he would like, Breen says somewhere in the silverware po🐻sitions would be the perfect foundation to begin his spell with Hyundai Motorsport in the new Rally1 hybrid era.

If he could do that, it would be in stark contrast to his performance w🙈ith M-Sport Ford twelve months ago when a trip into a snowbank on the second stage ended his participation early. The cause was later blamed on his vision being 🦂impaired by washer fluid freezing on his car’s windscreen.

“In an ideal world, I would love to leav💎e Sweden having stood on the podium again, but with it b🎀eing my first competitive event in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, this will be a challenge,” he admitted. “Ultimately, my main goal is to enjoy the experience.”

The itinerary on Friday comprises two loops of three stages separated by a flexi service, followed by another pass of the Umea sprint stage. Saturday is the longest day of the event at 🔥126km spread over seven stages, with Sunday’s three tests -🤪 including the Power Stage - bringing proceedings to a close.