M-SPORT Ford’s William Creighton has said he is “super happy” with his performance and final classification at the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
In his maiden WRC2 season with backing from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, Creighton ended the blisteringly quick Tet Rally Latvia fifth overall in the Championship’s main support category.
The Moira man came alive on the high-speed roads of the Leipaja-based fixture and recorded successive top-10 stage times throughout a largely trouble-free run in his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Sixth became fifth on Saturday’s second afternoon test – ‘Vecpils 2′ – after Finland’s Emil Lindholm hit the rear of his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 against a sandbank and broke a wheel and the suspension.
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It was a cruel end for Lindholm and his co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen’s as the pair had been competing under the cloud of news that the latter’s mother had sadly passed away just twenty-four hours earlier.
“We are super happy to get a strong result on our first fast gravel rally in the Fiesta Rally2. We have gained good experience in Latvia and we really enjoyed the sensation of these flat-out roads,” said Creighton.
“I am really happy to get a strong result and solid finish. The sensation on the stages was enjoyable – fast and flowing – and the enthusiasm from all the fans in Latvia also ensured it was incredible.
“I have to say thanks to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for preparing me and Liam for the event, and M-Sport for all their hard work. We’re now looking ahead to Finland which is coming up very soon.”
Creighton fared better than fellow Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Josh McErlean who had high hopes of challenging for a podium.
A visit into a ditch on Friday’s antepenultimate stage cost the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver over a minute in time and dropped him from third place to ninth position.
Any thought of a comeback by the 24-year-old from Kilrea were thwarted on Saturday, firstly because of a puncture and then a turbo pipe issue that affected the performance of his Toksport World Rally Team-run supermini.
“While it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, we showed some great pace all weekend and have continued to make some steps forward in understanding the car and trying different set-ups,” added McErlean.
Both Creighton and McErlean are set to return to WRC2 action at Rally Finland next week (August 2-4) for what is the third and final high-speed gravel round of this year’s WRC.