William Creighton says he “learned lots” in his first appearance on Rally di Roma Capitale last weekend.
Creighton, who made the switch to the ERC3 Junior class of the FIA European Rally Championship after the cancellation of the British Rally Championship due to the coronavirus pandemic, had a mixed event – he suffered a puncture on the opening day before then retiring on Sunday afternoon.
But the Irishman, who drove a Ford Fiesta Rally4 for the first time on the Italian event, was looking at the positives after making his European debut. He said: “The roads are magical and everything was going well until the puncture slowed us down on Saturday afternoon.”
“But lots was learned and it was a great experience coming over from Ireland. The ceremonial start in Rome was a real highlight and the pace among the Rally4 cars was world championship level so it was a great to be part of that.”
“It’s disappointing we didn’t keep going but I’ve got to take a lot of positives out of it.”
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver added on his problems on the final day: “It (the problem) was happening on Sunday morning’s stages. The guys did what they could in service but in the first stage after [SS10] the car cut out at a hairpin. We got it going again but then everything died and we were parked up by the side of the road.”
The next round of the 2020 FIA European Rally Championship, Rally Liepāja, takes place between August 14-16.
