Craig was the son of Ray Breen, a national champion in Irish rallying. He began
karting in 1999 in Ireland. He began rallying in 2007, combining it with karting commitments in Europe in 2008. In 2009, Breen made the full-time switch to rallying, competing in the Irish, British and International Fiesta Sporting Trophies, winning all three championships. In 2010, Breen debuted the
Ford Fiesta S2000 in both
British Rally Championship and the
Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. He took his first BRC victory on the
2010 Ulster Rally and went on to finish second overall in the ITC. He also finished 17th overall in the car at the
2010 Rally Finland and 12th overall at
Wales Rally GB. and his win at Wales Rally GB made him the inaugural WRC Academy Cup champion. . For 2012, Breen progressed to the
S-WRC championship driving a Ford Fiesta S2000. He won the opening round at
Monte Carlo and led the championship after the second round in
Sweden. In June 2012, Breen's co-driver
Gareth Roberts was killed in an accident during the
Targa Florio Rally, the fifth round of the
2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In Rally de Catalunya, in November, Breen won the Super 2000 world championship. At the end of the rally, a very emotional Breen declared "I'm a kid, I can't believe I've done this." In 2013, Breen and
co-driver Paul Nagle were signed by
Peugeot to lead their ERC campaign called 'Peugeot Rally Academy'. Breen was successful, achieving five podium places during the season, and eventually finishing 3rd overall, missing out on the runner-up spot by only four points. Midway during the season Nagle left the team to help out
Volkswagen's
Andreas Mikkelsen in the
WRC; from the
Rajd Polski onwards,
Belgian Lara Vanneste became Breen's co-driver. Breen won his first ERC rally at the 2014 Acropolis Rally in Greece, driving a
Peugeot 208 T16. Breen did a part-time campaign with the
Citroën Total World Rally Team in
2016, achieving his maiden
Special Stage win and an emotional first podium finish with third place at the
2016 Rally Finland. He improved the result in
2018 by finishing second at the
2018 Rally Sweden. Breen joined
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT for two events in the 2019 WRC campaign, remaining with the team on a part-time campaign through to the end of the
2021 WRC season. In this period, he accomplished four podium finishes, including three second places. In October 2021, it was announced that Breen would join
M-Sport World Rally Team as their lead driver for the 2022 season. He joined
Adrien Fourmaux and
Gus Greensmith in competing at all 13 rounds, making it his first full-time WRC campaign. Breen achieved two podium finishes with the
Ford Puma Rally1, with a second place in
Italy and a third place on debut in
Monte Carlo. Before the
2022 Rally Catalunya,
James Fulton became Breen's new co-driver after his long-time co-driver
Paul Nagle announced his retirement. Breen moved from
M-Sport back to
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT for the
2023 World Rally Championship, again as a part-time driver for the Korean team. He started his campaign in
Sweden with a second-place finish which saw him leading the rally for a considerable part of the event. Unfortunately, Breen was killed in a crash during a test before
Rally Croatia. == Death ==