Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver William Creighton claimed second overall at last weekend’s Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally [24-25 May], vaulting him into the lead of the Probite British Rally Championship with three rounds remaining.
Despite having never contested the gruelling two-day event in the Scottish Borders before, Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan were never out of the podium positions all weekend long in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
His unrivalled consistency in the championship, means he moves onto the top of the leaderboard with a fifteen-point advantage as the season reaches the midway marker. Just three rounds and four points scoring opportunities remain in 2024, and Creighton heads into the summer break in a prime position.
The iconic rally on the BRC roster would prove to be one of the trickiest of the season with mixed weather, standing water and mud-strewn roads adding further jeopardy to the already challenging route. Friday offered three tests, which would be repeated under the cover of darkness, with tyre choice a critical factor across the opening leg.
Heading into the overnight halt, Creighton would sit comfortably in third overall as he continued to bed into the unique Scottish Border lanes, but by Saturday morning, that would become second; a position he would retain throughout the remainder of the rally to claim his third runner-up spot of the BRC season.
“I’m delighted with that result” said Creighton at the finish.
“Having never been here before means we didn’t quite know what to expect and although we obviously did as much homework as we could, it’s no substitute for getting experience on the lanes themselves. It’s such a tricky rally and every corner has been unpredictable. Tyre choice was a lottery but as ever the M-Sport team really helped us get the most out of the decisions we made, and it helped us really fight at the front all weekend. That’s really encouraging”.
Despite yet another strong result, Creighton isn’t thinking about the BRC title at this stage.
“It’s nice to be leading the BRC and that really resonates with me after winning the Junior title back in 2019. But there is still a long way to go, and I won’t be thinking too much about that heading into the next round. We are taking it event by event and that approach is working so far”.
And he doesn’t have time to revel in the result, as he heads straight from Scotland to Sardinia to continue his World Rally Championship WRC2 campaign this coming weekend at Rally Italia Sardegna [30 May – 2 June].
“Its nice to have the seat time just a few days before our next WRC event but of course the rough gravel of Sardinia is a far cry from the Duns lanes. I`m looking forward to the event though which is certainly one of survival. It won’t be the flat-out pace of the Jim Clark, but we won the Junior WRC category there last year so I`m aware of what it takes to do well.”
Rally Italia Sardegna will compromise of a refreshed itinerary for 2024 and gets underway on Friday 30 May with Shakedown and four stages later that afternoon. Saturday boasts a bumper day of eight, long stages before the traditional four-test blast to round out the event on Sunday.
