William Creighton taking positives from second WRC2 appearance despite first day accident

William Creighton in action in the WRC2 event in Zagreb

Jason Craig in Zagreb

William Creighton reckons there are plenty of positives to take from his second FIA World Rally Championship WRC2 appearance despite a day one accident dashing his hopes of a strong finish.

The Moira driver arrived at the Zagreb-based event with successive Tarmac podium finishes under his belt, with those coming on the West Cork Rally and the North West Stages alongside Liam Regan.

The 26-year-old recovered well from an early puncture to sit eighth in class with one Friday speed test remaining but the decision to further increase his speed backfired when he went off the road.

With the damage repaired by M-Sport Ford mechanics, they re-joined on the Saturday and, despite their road position being less than favourable, they gained a better understanding of the Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Sunday ended with Creighton and Regan having to perform running repairs on the rear of the car after an impact bent the suspension. Despite dropping time, they still had enough in hand to wrap out the top ten places in WRC2 from the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris Rally2 of Yuki Yamamoto.

“I am happy to get to the end of what was a challenging yet encouraging Rally Croatia. The event was as challenging as ever – the roads and the conditions were relentless,” reflected Creighton.

“Unfortunately, the setbacks on Friday scuppered any hopes we had of coming away with a strong finish, and a damaged rear arm during the final stage on Sunday made for a stressful end – but myself and Liam got our hands dirty and we managed to get the car to the finish,” he continued.

“The positive is that our pace was competitive with the WRC2 frontrunners across many stages in Croatia, so we will keep working to improve and aim for a more consistent weekend next time.”

Meanwhile, the #81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R co-driven by Charlie Eastwood, Tom van Rompuy, and Rui Andrade completed the Six Hours of Imola in seventh, one spot in front of their sister car.

The decision to mix up the strategy with two hours of Sunday’s race left failed to pay off because, despite inclement weather moving across the track and leaving it damp in places, conditions and grip levels were such that lap times between those on slicks and those on full wets was minimal.

“P7 is not what we want but it was a pretty solid race on our side,” said Eastwood, after round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship. “We know what we need to get closer to the front.”