Ireland's William Creighton wins Rally Italia Sardegna

TOUGH CONDITIONS: Junior winners William Creighton/Liam Regan performing during Rally Italia Sardegna. Pic: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Irish driver William Creighton (Ford Fiesta Rally3) took a major step towards winning this year’s Junior World Rally Championship with his second category victory of the year, this time in the Rally Italia Sardegna. Co-driven by Liam Regan, he overcame some of the toughest conditions he has ever experienced in his short career, also punching in seven stage wins that gained him extra points for the five round series.

During Saturday’s penultimate leg Creighton, who began the day with a 55s advantage, retained top spot even though main rival Diego Dominguez closed the deficit to 32.4s. Then, he lost the lead on SS13 when he dropped over a minute as he had to stop and change a punctured wheel. As a result, Dominguez moved 29.5s ahead only for Creighton to regain the lead with a super drive through the 21.92km stage that followed. He ended the penultimate leg with a 2m. 18.2s lead. On the final leg, Creighton sealed a superb win with victory on the Power Stage to finish a minute and 45.9s ahead of Dominguez. Kelly finished sixth.

Meanwhile, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid) secured a much needed win to rekindle his WRC bid. It was a 1-2 for the Korean outfit with team mate Esapekka Lappi finishing 33s behind. Championship leader Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota Yaris Rally1 Hybrid) was 1m. 22.3s further behind in third.

A heavy downpour during SS14 during the second run through the 21.92km Erula-Tula stage on Saturday brought a dramatic change when leader Sebastien Ogier, seeking a record fifth Italian win, dropped down an embankment when his Toyota understeered just 1.4km into the stage, apparently, his foot slipped of the pedal. Lappi, who began the stage just 4.3s behind Ogier, slackened his pace when he saw Ogier’s stricken car. 

Earlier and unaware of all the drama Neuville powered his way through the stage and moved from third to first ending the day 36.4s ahead of his team mate. Ott Tanak’s retirement was traced to a faulty electrical sensor after his Ford Puma ingested water. Dani Sordo recovered from rolling his Hyundai on Friday and was set to claim a top five place only to retire with exhaust failure. His demise allowed Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda Fabia Rally2) to claim fifth coupled with victory in WRC2 where Adrien Fourmaux, who was set to win the category, slid his Ford Fiesta Rally2 off the road 1.4km into the final stage.

In the Heartlands Rally in Portlaoise, Kilkenny’s Eddie Doherty (Ford Escort) and Donegal’s Declan Gallagher (Toyota Starlet) served up a thrilling contest that matched the searing heat. Doherty, who moved into the lead on the third stage, finished just 3.3 seconds ahead of top seed Gallagher. Limerick’s Ed O’Callaghan (Ford Escort) hit a bale soon after the start of the opening stage and retired instantly. Family honour was upheld as son Chris (Escort) led after the opening stage only to crash out on SS2. 

Banteer’s Barry Meade (Escort) led Doherty by two seconds with Gallagher another 4.1s in arrears. Meade bowed out when a tyre slipped from the rim after landing over a jump on SS3 where Doherty became the third leader in as many stages, he managed to hold off Gallagher as Tyrone’s Frank Kelly (Escort) - a late entry - took third.

In motor racing, Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year winner Alex Dunne took two wins and a sixth place from the three races in the GB3 Championship in Spa-Francorchamps. The Offaly teenager has moved up to third in the series 18 points off top spot.