William Creighton will make his FIA Junior World Rally Championship debut on the upcoming Croatia Rally and whilst the young Irishman cannot wait to get the season under way, he will be taking a realistic approach to the event.
With regular co-driver Liam Regan on the notes beside him in his Ford Fiesta Rally4, the Motorsport Ireland Academy backed driver is under no illusions of the challenges that await him on the stages. “It would be really easy to get wrapped up in the pressure and excitement of doing your first-ever Junior World Rally Championship round, but there are so many unknowns on the opening rally, you could tie yourself in knots trying to predict what will happen and that’s just not healthy,” says Creighton.
“I’m really focused on the challenge ahead and I know that it will be very different to anything that I’ve done before but I believe I am as prepared as I can be and that in itself takes the pressure off the situation. I don’t underestimate how challenging this will be, it’s the World Rally Championship – but I`m channeling all that energy into making sure we learn, adapt and ultimately get some important points on the board.”
Each driver in the JWRC will contest the series in a identical Fiesta Rally4, the winner of the championship receiving a brand new Fiesta Rally2 from M-Sport, 200 free tyres from Pirelli and registration entry into the WRC3 category in 2022. However before that the crews must get to grips with their current machinery, something Creighton was keen to do on his recent trip to contest the Kowax Valašská Rally ValMez rally in a Orsák Rally Sport run Fiesta Rally4. Despite it being his first visit to the country, he was able to secure stages wins and second overall in his catergory.
“It was a tremendous experience and Orsák were superb. Everything was very relaxed and it all just worked perfectly. But I`m very glad we went because it was a world away from anything I’ve competed on before so at least I have my eye in now. It was very valuable indeed” he said. Despite this pre event boost, the youngster is still determined to keep his feet on the ground and realises that it will be hard work to compete from the off against a host of established drivers.
“It’s hard to know what our pace will be like against the other crews, but I really can’t let that bother me and I will certainly be doing my own thing for the first day and see where that puts us. Never before has finishing a rally been more important and with only four rounds to score on, I`ll certainly be balancing pace with risk.
“We will be finding our feet on day one and go from there. It’s a huge opportunity and I need to go out there and make the most of it. Once again thanks to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and my sponsors Creightons, PRM Group, DGM Sport and Race and Rally”.
