Creighton claims commanding Grampian victory in strong weekend for academy crews

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crews delivered impressive performances across two forest rallies, with William Creighton securing a dominant British Rally Championship victory on Scotland's Grampian Forest Rally.

Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan produced a masterful display on the Grampian's challenging gravel stages, claiming a commanding 32.5-second victory over Scotland's Max McRae to move into the BRC series lead.

The Toyota Yaris Rally2 crew established their authority from the opening stages, winning the rally's first four tests to storm into a sizeable 26.5-second lead over Castrol MEM team-mate Meirion Evans. Creighton's well-managed approach over Saturday's second half showcased his growing experience as he perfectly managed his pace at the front.

The 27-year-old added another stage win on the Grampian's penultimate Scare Hill test to ensure his impressive victory margin. Creighton's second BRC triumph and third win aboard the Yaris Rally2 moves him into the championship lead with two rounds remaining.

"We are really happy with this result because we put a lot of preparation and work in before the rally,” Creighton explained. “Since the Nicky Grist Stages we have done a lot of work with the team and engineers to analyse how we could improve, get the best set-up for the Grampian Rally, and improve things from my side to have a strong performance. So bringing back this result is very rewarding."

“We started the rally really strongly, which gave us the opportunity to pick and choose where we could have no risk and try to protect everything. Hats off to the team, the car was really strong all weekend and the Michelin tyres stood up to a pretty rough second pass on some of the stages with a lot of bedrock and loose rocks."

“Overall, we are very happy. The speed was good at the start of the rally and it was nice to be able to pitch ourselves against the likes of Romet [Jurgenson] coming off two really strong results in gravel WRC events.”

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Read the William Creighton press release by clicking here

Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen engaged in a thrilling Junior BRC battle with Joseph Kelly and MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle throughout the Scottish forests. Kelly and McArdle established a 7.5-second advantage on Friday night before McBride fought back with two Saturday morning stage wins to move into a 5.3-second lead.

The pendulum swung again on Saturday afternoon's demanding gravel stages as Kelly and McArdle impressed to secure the eventual Junior BRC victory, leaving McBride and Mullen to settle for second place and valuable championship points.

“We are very happy with our weekend in Scotland,” said winning co-driver McArdle. “We set out on Friday night to continue the pace we had on gravel and it paid off.

“We were caught napping in the first stage on Saturday morning but we responded well on the next stage to be fastest again. From there we really kept control and in midday service we decided to go on a push and it worked gaining the lead back. Joe drove really well and it leaves us in a great place in both the Stellantis Cup and Junior BRC.”

Runner-up McBride summed up his weekend:

"Absolutely delighted to get to the finish of the Grampian Forest Rally," said McBride. "It was a tricky weekend, the stages were very loose and challenging.

“We felt comfortable at times but we found it difficult to get into a consistent rhythm. Overall, though, we are happy to get second-placed points for our championship."

Back in Ireland, 20-year-old Jack Harris continued his Rally4 development on Sunday's Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally alongside co-driver Aaron O'Regan. The Donegal driver showed promising early pace with a brace of top-three stage times putting him second after Cork's first three stages, just 4.7 seconds off the Class 2 lead.

Harris experimented with a new tyre package after the mid-day service, using the opportunity to gain valuable experience with different compounds. Despite struggling to adapt to the alternative strategy, he battled through to finish fourth in the eight-car strong Class 2 over the 70-kilometre event.

"Our day started off very well," Harris reflected. "It was great to be back in a car after a long break. We were expecting to be off the pace in the morning but we had a good first loop, lying in second in class and right in the mix.

"Heading into first service, we decided to take a different tyre strategy which I struggled to adapt to. Nevertheless, we are happy to get through our first rally back to finish fourth in class. Now we have something to build on and be back on the pace."

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