PROBITE British Rally Championship leader William Creighton has said thoughts of him winning the drivers’ title is “only normal”, ahead of this weekend’s Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally in Scotland.
Creighton begins the second half the series, which resumes in Banchory on Friday after a 10-week summer break, 14-points ahead of former FIA European Rally Champion Chris Ingram and 21 clear of four-time British Rally Champion Keith Cronin, with his points-boosting ‘Joker’ card still to play.
The Moira man’s consistent start to the competition has been rewarded with podium results on each of the opening three rounds in England, Wales and Scotland in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 to put him in a commanding position to add the BRC1 crown to his Junior BRC trophy from 2021.
Talk of a title was the last thing on the 26-year-old’s mind when he announced his return to the Championship in March with co-driving team-mate Liam Regan, but that stance has now changed.
“I have to say I am very happy with how the first half of the British Rally Championship has gone – I don’t think that we expected to be leading the Championship at this point,” admitted Creighton, whose familiarity of the new car has been helped by appearances in the World Rally Championship’s WRC2 support category.
“As a team we have been focusing on our own preparation and performance, and then aiming to improve event-on-event and trying to get all the little things that make such a big difference, right.
“This approach has been working well and it has helped me make the transition from Rally3 in to Rally2. I have really enjoyed competing in the British Rally Championship and having the opportunity to fight at the front of these events with M-Sport and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.”
The next three rounds are all new to Creighton, which promise to put his pace note making skills and pre-event strategy discussions under the spotlight. However, he is keen to stress that starting unfamiliar rallies has been par for the course so far in 2024, and it hasn’t had an adverse impact.
“With our experience in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship over the past few seasons and WRC2 this season, we have travelled to a lot of new events so it is not something new to us,” he said.
“Of course, it is nice to go back to events you have experience of, but it is also a nice challenge to go to new ones and from what I hear, the Grampian Forest Rally offers some great gravel stages.”
He added: “Given the position we are in, I think that it is only normal for the title to cross our mind – but just thinking about it won’t help us to make the improvements that are required to maximise my potential and the car’s so that we can keep moving forward and challenge the top BRC1 guys.
“I am staying focused and sticking to what has been working over the first half of the Championship.”