Creighton secures sensational Junior World Rally Championship debut win in Sweden

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Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver William Creighton secured an outstanding maiden victory at the opening round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, Rally Sweden.

Creighton, 25 from Moira, was the star of the field, setting fastest time on an unrivalled nine stages during the event. His pace would see him build a lead of over 40 seconds against his nearest rivals, before his Fiesta bonnet flew up and blocked his view, losing almost a minute in the process.

Starting the final day of the event, Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan found themselves 19 seconds away from the leader and in a truly fascinating masterclass of top-level driving, Creighton bravely regained the lead of the rally on the penultimate test to win by the slender margin of just 0.6 seconds and secure his place in the history books.

“I really haven’t got the words right now to describe how this feels and what it means to finally win a round of the Junior WRC,” he said. “We have worked so hard to get to this point over the past two seasons and our preparation for the start of this year has been really good.

Michael Creighton and Liam Regan on the podium

"That showed straight out of the box I think and we really gave ourselves a good chance over the opening three legs.

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"OK, that was made more difficult by what happened on Saturday but it made Sunday’s goal easier, it had to be flat out. I’m speechless.

“It’s still sinking in but I`m super happy with the result of course and our championship position to start the year."