EKO Acropolis Rally Greece offers gruelling test for Creighton in Junior WRC finale’
- FIA Junior World Rally Championship driver William Creighton is set to tackle the final round of the series, EKO Acropolis Rally Greece
- The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy team member heads to the “Rally of the Gods” for the very first time
- Creighton aims to “finish the season on a high” after a tough Junior WRC campaign
Creighton, 24 from Moira in Co. Down will head for the iconic event, one of the most famous in the World Rally Championship tour for the very first time as the hotly contested Junior WRC makes its debut on the gruelling loose surface event.
With the final encounter of the five-round season offering up a double point scoring opportunity, Creighton could well improve on his fifth place in the championship but as the title is out of reach, the progressive driver is eager to make the most out of his trip to the unique rock-strewn roads surrounding the Lamia rally base.
“Rally Greece is another of those events that you grow up dreaming of contesting, so I feel very privileged to be heading there and rounding out our Junior WRC campaign on such an iconic rally,” says Creighton.
“Our approach will be pretty similar to the last round in Estonia really, we need to keep improving our pace stage by stage and of course, we need to learn how to adapt to the rough and unforgiving gravel tracks over there. It will need some smart thinking, but with no championship title at stake, it offers a little flexibility and Liam [Regan, co-driver] and I will be giving it our all to try and finish the season on a high”.
Creighton has endured a difficult second year on the Junior WRC tour. The season started on a high with a podium in the snow of Rally Sweden in February. Fifth in Croatia was followed by an uncharacteristic error in Portugal which meant he left the event with a zero score.
The ultra-high speed gravel roads of Rally Estonia would set to test the world’s best rally drivers and with the addition of unpredictable weather to add into the mix, it would arguably be a rally of survival rather than outright speed and Creighton once again came away with fifth spot.
He heads to the double-header final encounter in fifth in the standings but with points also available for stage wins, has the potential to climb the leader board in Greece. Fondly named the “Rally of the Gods” thanks to its Athens heritage, the event will mark the debut of the rally in the championship.
“It’s a fairly level playing field in Greece as none of the Junior drivers has contested the event before so it’s nice that everyone will be starting fresh. However, it’s a mammoth challenge, not only are the stages really tough, the temperature in the car will be insane so we need to be at the top of our game.”
“But I have prepared well by working on onboards of the previous year’s stages and together with the efforts of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy I am feeling positive heading into the weekend. It would be nice to round out the season with a good result, to repay all our backers and supporters for their dedication this year. Let’s see what we can do”.
