WILLIAM Creighton says there promises to be “something really special” about competing in front of his home supporters with Liam Regan after adding next month’s West Cork Rally to his schedule.
He has entered the St Patrick’s weekend event, which hosts round two of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, to build-in extra seat time ahead of his next FIA World Rally Championship outing.
That will come on April’s Croatia Rally – an event he won last year en route to lifting the FIA Junior World Rally Championship crown and, in the process, securing four fully paid starts in the WRC2.
Running over three-days this year instead of two, West Cork is the first time the 26-year-old will sample his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta Rally2 on asphalt having spent the past few weeks focussing on snow and ice for Rally Sweden where he finished fourteenth in WRC2 and twenty sixth overall.
“Together with the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy we have a fantastic WRC2 programme lined up in the M-Sport Fiesta Rally2,” explained Creighton.
“The WRC2 category is extremely competitive and with our next championship event taking place on asphalt in Croatia next month, West Cork provides a fantastic opportunity to get our first kilometres on Tarmac in the Fiesta.
“The event is tough, and it is going to be a hugely competitive three days of rallying amongst the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship regulars, but it is valuable seat time I will be aiming for and using it as an extended test session towards the rest of the season.
“I have been very fortunate to compete on a number of rallies across Europe in the last few years at World Rally Championship level but there is something really special about coming home to rally.”
Creighton will go up against defending Irish Tarmac champion Callum Devine (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) and former winner of the series Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2) as well as Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Keith Cronin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) who have seven British Rally Championship titles between them.
“This will be my first time competing at an Irish Tarmac Rally Championship event in a top category car and there is a huge buzz about the series with the level of competition this year, so I have no doubt it Is going to be an enjoyable weekend,” said Creighton, who made his West Cork Rally debut in 2016.
“The support on the stages is always amazing and it is great to be able to catch up with all the people that have been supporting me and Liam on our Junior World Rally journey over the years.”
Increased to a three-day event for 2024, the West Cork Rally kicks off on the afternoon of March 15, with two full days of competitive action following on Saturday and Sunday.