Twenty-four-year-old William Creighton returned a sensational performance at last weekend’s WRC Rally RACC Catalunya – Rally de España [20-23 October], his prize for winning the 2021 Motorsport UK Junior British Rally Championship.
Driving a PCRS Rallysport run Hyundai i20 N Rally2, Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan stormed to a top thirty result and secured first non-priority crew in their WRC Rally2 debut.
The Northern Ireland driver had just completed his second season in the Junior WRC and would redeem his prize for scooping the 2021 Junior BRC title in Spain. Thanks to a collaboration between the British Rally Championship and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, Creighton would enter the three-day asphalt event with backing from Motorsport UK, Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, Pirelli UK, and Reis Motorsport Insurance.
A pre-event test saw Creighton have the chance to adapt to his new surroundings and would ease his way into the Hyundai on Friday morning. A progressive drive through the leg was hampered by a puncture on one of the many large cuts, dropping him two minutes in the process.
But from then on in, Creighton would return a mature drive across the entire weekend, trading top-fifteen times with some of the most talented up-and-coming drivers in the world, tackling the hotly contested WRC2 category of the world series.
“This has truly been such an amazing experience and one I won’t forget in a hurry,” said a delighted Creighton at the finish.
“Puncture aside, it was pretty much a perfect rally for us, and it really allowed us to settle into the Hyundai across the weekend and make small steps in progress and pace, to build a really good understanding of the i20. “
“It doesn’t get much better than driving a Rally2 on a WRC round and I must say a huge thank you to everyone that has helped to make this happen. We have enjoyed some great support from the British Rally Championship, Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and of course the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy out here, it was great to see so many Irish flags on the stages.”
“Our grounding in the Junior BRC certainly helped to build the foundations for the future and after tackling the Junior WRC this season in the Rally3 car, we felt ready to make the next step up to Rally2. It’s been amazing, what a way to round out the year.”
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Images: Timo Anis
