Creighton and Kelly representing Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy in Croatia
William Creighton (left) and Eamonn Kelly (right) will represent the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy in WRC2 and JWRC respectively at this weekends WRC Rally Croatia.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Willaim Creighton has no time to reflect on his superb second place on Saturday’s Rally Nuts Severn Valley Rally as heads straight to Croatia this weekend. Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan are mounting a duel challenge on both the World Rally Championship and the British Rally Championship in a Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy-backed Ford Fiesta Rally2. On Saturday they took the Fiesta to another impressive result, despite the event marking Creighton’s Rally2 debut on a gravel surface.
Adding to the North West Stages runner-up spot, (and the West Cork Rally’s third place) Creighton now finds himself second overall in the British Rally Championship standings, just four points shy of the series lead. Creighton has no time to enjoy the glory of the weekend, as he heads straight to Croatia to continue his FIA World Rally Championship WRC2 journey.
“It’s been a busy few months and that continues now as we make the switch back to the WRC and the tar,” he said. “Of course, the WRC2 championship is a very different proposition from the BRC so we almost have to press the reset button after Saturday, but having the benefit of seat time so close to a rally is hugely beneficial and that will allow us to feel more comfortable heading into the weekend.”
Rally Croatia is his second round of the World Rally Championship WRC2 campaign. The event begins on Thursday and will feature 20 stages and over 280 kilometres of stages, which offer a mix of high-speed stretches mixed with tight hairpins and technical sections, throughout the three days of competitive action.
“We enjoyed Rally Sweden but now we have had the benefit of more experience on asphalt it will feel more comfortable from the outset. The WRC2 plan hasn’t changed though, and we will continue to build experience and pace when we feel the time is right. Getting mileage at that level under our belt is important and certainly the focus for the week ahead,” he added.
The rally is also the second round of the Junior World Rally Championship. With over 300,000 spectators lining the stages in 2022 and 2023, Croatia Rally forms round two of five and, importantly, is the only all-tarmac fixture on the 2024 FIA Junior WRC calendar. However, despite being labelled as a Tarmac event, Croatia presents a unique variety of surfaces ranging from smooth asphalt to badly broken concrete.
Eamonn Kelly won the Junior element of the rally last year. He and Conor Mohan prepared for the event by contesting the Quattro River Rally in Karlovac, very close to this weekend’s Rally Croatia route. Kelly and co-driver Conor Mohan were one of four JWRC contenders to enter the Quattro River Rally which used roads very similar to Rally Croatia and three of the 12 stages will be used in the WRC event a few weeks later – albeit in reverse.
The Irish crew finished ninth overall and fifth in class after their hired Ford Fiesta Rally3 suffered intercooler issues on Saturday.
In February the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver got his second season of the Junior World Rally Championship off to a perfect start by taking third place in Rally Sweden. The result matched his Acropolis Rally Greece performance last September and sets him up nicely for round two in Croatia in April.