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.