Fiesta SportTrophy International champion Craig Br🌱een completed a near-perfect season as he took victory in the FST International Shootout this week.

Breen beat off stronಌg competition to take the prestigious t🎶itle and take his tally of victories for the season to six after becoming FSTi champion, Kick Energy FST UK champion, FST Ireland champion, Irish Junior Rally champion as well as winning the Billy Coleman Award in his home country.

The prize on offer to the winner of the Shootout is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain hands-on experience at a top level World Rally team. A 12-month employment cont🐼ract with M-Sport, an apartment at the Dovenby Hall HQ and the provision of a road car are all part of Breen's reward.

He will have the chance to experience working in a number of differ🌃ent areas of the company, travelling to the European WRC events wi𝕴th the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, attending press functions and driving at PR events.

While Breen had been one of the favou🐬rites to take the coveted title he faced stiff opposition over the two-day competitio൩n.

The 16 competitors' who had qualified for the Shootout based on their performances in FST championships around the globe, faced a series of physical and psychological tests as well as an assessment of their media skills before embarking on the fina൲l driving challenge, a three kilometre stage in the GpN Fiesta ST at M-Sport's Greystoke Forest.

With all of their scores tallied, the competitors were whittled down to the final five candidates who were interviewed by M-Sport managiﷺng director Malcolm Wiꦏlson OBE.

Breen, who posted the best time in the driving challenge, was joined in the final five by four outstanding competitors who🗹 all merited a chance to face the final interview after a series of strong performances over the two days - namely FSTi wildcard entry Patrick Anglade, Northern Ireland's Mark Donnelly, Swede Mattias Wennman and Cedric de Cecco from Belgium.

Ang☂lade, the FSTi runner up, who led the championship until the final round in Wales, produced strong and consistent performances throughout the two-day challenge earning a goo𓆉d result in the media skills test and matching his rival Breen in the fitness test.

Donnelly excelled on the fitness𝓀 test on day one posting the leading score and followed up that performance with consistently strong results over all of the next disciplines, including the stages in Greystoke where he trailed Breen's time by j🐟ust three tenths.

Wennman had been occupying a mid-table spot after the first day's tests, but s𓆏ome strong times in the driving test elevated him to the top five as he excelled in 🍬the testing conditions that saw some other competitors crash out.

Equally, de Cecco, who h𝔍ad to contend with a delay to his driving tests after a technical issue on his Fiesta ST, proved his driving talent to move up from his position near the middle of the table after the first day.

Also worthy of mention was New Zealand's Ben♑ Jagger, who finished day one's events as the overall leader, performing exceptionally in the media, psychological and physical assessments. However, the New Zealander fell victim to the forest on his first run of the driving test, as he went off the road and hit a tree, e💙nding his Shootout campaign.

However, Breen's undoubted ability behind the wheel shone through as he posted the faste♑st times in the forest with co-driver Gar⛄eth Roberts.

The young Irishman will now get a taste of things to come alm🦩ost immediately as he gets the chance to take the wheel o൲f a Ford Focus RS WRC car and receive tuition from BP Ford Abu Dhabi #1 and 2009 World Rally Championship runner-up Mikko Hirvonen.

"Winning this title really has left me lost for words," said Breen. "I have had a fantastic debut season and to win the championship in that same year was incredibl෴e, but this is something else altogether.

"I had set myself the target of wi🌟nning this at the start of the year and I am so pleased that I have managed to achieve that. It is a fantas𒅌tic opportunity that I have been given to work with M-Sport and I can't wait to start. This contest was really great and I was pushed all the way, but I am absolutely over the moon to have won."

"It hasn't been easy to pick a winner and there have been a few pleasant suܫrprise performances," added Wilson. "There can only be one winner, however, and Craig has shon🍌e above the rest during this competition.

"It is the first time that this ti♌tle hasn't been won by a wildcard in four years. Craig has ha൩d a fantastic year to win the FSTi, FST UK and FST Ireland and he is a deserved winner."