Arriving at the stop control for the first time with his fingers gripped to a Toyota steering wheel, he was expecting to learn his time wasn’t the best.
With a 6m52.9s to beat from Keith Cronin ahead of him, co-driver Liam Regan checked the watch. It read ‘6m44.0s.’ And nobody coming behind would end up in the same zip code.
Quickest on nine of the rally’s 10 special stages, victory was inevitable but undeniably impressive on his first time in the car and on Michelin rubber.
Ultimately William Creighton (2023 Junior WRC champion) wants to be playing at a bigger table than the British Rally Championship, but his performance at last weekend’s season-opening East Riding Stages was as emphatic as it was ominous.
And in a season where he arguably has several points to prove, this was an epic way to kick things off.
Why victory was so important
Creighton comfortably won last weekend's BRC opener on his first drive in a Yaris
In theory, Creighton is an obvious favorite for title success in this year’s British series given he ran 2024’s champion Chris Ingram close, and in Ingram’s absence is now driving the package the Englishman used to win.
But Creighton was 2024’s perennial bridesmaid with four runner-up finishes from seven rounds – his only victory the product of M-Sport team strategy with him and guest entrant Jon Armstrong on the second leg of Rali Ceredigion.
Bizarrely for a driver who’s won a world title, Creighton had never won a rally outright prior to his trip to Yorkshire – so to put that right was a source of great pride, let alone a vital message to send the way of his season rivals with how effortless Creighton made it seem.
“We came so close last year, we were second in I don’t know how many rallies,” Creighton tells DirtFish. “I don’t know how many second place BRC trophies I have at home and they’re great, but you always want to win a rally.
“So yeah, that was my first outright rally win – I was thinking about that since we were quickest on the first stage!
“But I definitely felt at the weekend that we were on the cautious side, just trying to be consistent – that was the main thing for me that we talked about before the rally that we wanted to work on.
“I can’t say that it was comfortable or easy – that’s not fair and that’s not true, but it was just… everything clicked and it wasn’t stressful inside the car.”
Creighton admits last week’s result has “given me a lot in terms of my own confidence because it shows our work during the off season is paying off”.
Victory was the very first of Creighton's senior rallying career
He explains: “We’re always trying to improve, so we are changing things and working on elements of my driving, my pacenotes, my approach to the rallies and the strategy on the events. But in terms of my fundamental driving style and all that sort of thing, you know, it hasn’t changed dramatically so to have such a strong first rally of the season, that’s really good for my confidence.
“I suppose the obvious question is: if we were in that car last year, what would the outcome have been? I’ve improved throughout the whole of last year, from the first rally to the last and you don’t want to just jump into looking at ways to improve outside of what I’m doing, my own skill, my pacenotes and all that because I’m continually progressing.
“You know, I have to get the most out of me before I have to start looking at other areas, but then at the same time, it all has to click and you have to be comfortable in what you have underneath you to try and progress yourself as well.
“However we’ve only done one rally, so it’s important that we continue to work hard before the next event to deliver another strong performance.”
True, but being so assured on his first rally in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and not giving drivers as accomplished and established as Keith Cronin (four-time British champion and twice an Irish Tarmac champion) a look-in, was an impressive initial statement to make.
The fellow Junior WRC champion comparison
Jürgenson is an obvious yardstick for Creighton to try and beat this year, as both are JWRC champions
Perhaps the one obvious yardstick for Creighton in this year’s BRC, though, is Romet Jürgenson.
Creighton’s successor as Junior WRC champion in 2024, the Estonian has exactly the same program as the Irishman did 12 months ago: seven rounds of WRC2 in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, and a BRC season to supplement it.
Last weekend’s East Riding was Jürgenson’s first event in the UK or Ireland, and his first on Tarmac with a Rally2 car, so Creighton was always expected to get the better of him. Failing to do so, particularly on round one, would have been bad news for his future prospects.
But equally, there’s a lot more hype around Jürgenson now than there was around Creighton at this time last year. So for Creighton to beat Jürgenson on all 10 stages and overall by essentially a minute on a 54-mile rally was no bad thing for his stock.
“I’m happy I didn’t get blown away by Romet in my old car as the ex-JWRC champion,” Creighton jokes.
“But to be truthfully honest, these sorts of comparisons aren’t ever on my mind,” he admits.
“My focus has always been on just doing our own thing, because that’s all I can influence.
“What Romet did in Junior WRC was impressive last year and it’s great to see him in the British championship this year.
“As you say he hasn’t done a lot in the car, so he’s only going to get quicker. He showed really good speed in Sweden, I was looking at that.
“So yeah, I’m sure we’re going to have nice battles but I’m not any more motivated to beat him over anybody else.
“My aim is to win and be the best I can be, no matter who I’m up against.”
WRC desire
Creighton has his eyes set on getting back into the WRC
Currently, Creighton’s 2025 schedule is only filled with British championship events. But he’s keen to change that – aware that proving himself against the world’s best on the global stage is key to his future.
“At the minute, the BRC is all I’ve got. Again, that’s no disrespect to the BRC, but my own goal is to be in the WRC with the car that we have,” he says.
“And at the end of last year, that was always the aim: to get back into the WRC. That’s where we want to be, that’s where we want to try and prove ourselves.
“Obviously, that’s very difficult. The budget to do the BRC is a lot smaller than to do the WRC, and you can’t do the WRC in isolation. You need to have some seat time in the car.
“I really enjoy the BRC, the competition there is really high, but I want to be in the WRC. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win the BRC, that’s of course what I want to do, but I want to win in the WRC ultimately.
“Now of course we’re a long way from doing that, but that’s where I want to be and it’s just all about how do we get there, and then if we can get there, how do we be fast when we’re there?”
The McErlean promotion
Creighton's fellow Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Josh McErlean got a Rally1 drive for this year
Creighton did say something interesting there though; that he’s “a long way” from winning in the WRC.
For his fellow Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Josh McErlean now has a Rally1 drive with M-Sport, campaigning a Puma Rally1 on all 14 rounds in 2025. That means it’s not theoretically absurd for Creighton to eventually get there.
“Genuinely, at the start of this year, there were different options on the table,” Creighton reveals. “Obviously, we have to look at everything from ERC, BRC, WRC, Irish events.
“You have to consider everything, but the weekend reconfirms that I’m happy with the route that we’ve gone down with the team and the car, the tires, my own team around me in support of the Academy. We’re all happy with where we are.
“Like I said, our own aim is to get into the WRC with that package. That’s my goal and we’re working hard to try and achieve that.
“I think overall for rallying in Ireland it’s amazing to see what’s been achieved by the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy to get Josh into a Rally1 car with M-Sport. It’s the ultimate inspiration for younger drivers coming through, and I’m sure this season is going to be a success.”
Despite the obvious temptation for comparisons to be drawn, what’s clear is the 27-year-old isn’t focused on what others are doing. Which is a rather fitting metaphor for how he distanced himself from the pack at the weekend.
