Latvia next up for McErlean and Creighton

william creighton makes his fifth wrc2 appearance of the year.

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy drivers Josh McErlean and William Creighton will go head-to-head on a World Rally Championship event for just the third time this year at this week’s Tet Rally Latvia [18-21 July].

Creighton will be making his fifth start of the year while McErlean will be on his fourth outing of the season as they each continue their FIA WRC2 Championship campaigns. Such is their varied 2024 programme they have only competed against each other in Portugal and Sardinia thus far this season. McErlean has shown consistent pace on his three events in the Toksport World Rally Team Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. An outstanding second-place WRC2 finish on his debut for TokSport WRT in Portugal is a season highlight so far. He and co-driver James Fulton can count on previous Rally Latvia experience from their FIA European Rally Championship days. And their Latvian form is impressive too, taking fourth overall on the event in 2023, ensuring his sights are firmly set towards the front this time around. However, the approach will also concentrate on his WRC2 championship aspirations.

“We had a strong result last year in Latvia and that gave us a good understanding of the characteristics of the roads and how conditions of the stages can evolve. It’s going to be a new spectacle having this event in WRC which will also bring a few changes, but I’m really excited for the high-speed blast and it's very much business as usual,” said McErlean. “Of course, we want to be near the front pace again, but a solid point-scoring finish on Sunday afternoon is the primary target.”

Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan will make their Latvian debut this weekend. The fast-flowing roads will present a new challenge for the crew but it is one they are more than ready for. Latvia will mark a change of pace for the reigning Junior World Rally Champions. Previous gravel rallies this year included Portugal and Sardina but this weekend’s event will be their first high-speed rally in the Ford Fiesta Rally2,

“The World Rally Championship calendar has turned to the fast events now during summer. Some of the guys have done Poland but we sat that one out so this is our first high-speed gravel rally in the Rally2 Fiesta, so that's very exciting,” said Creighton. “We have  learned a lot in the first half of the season and have made good improvements with my driving and the set-up of the car to suit me so hopefully we can put that to good use. I have finished all the prep now from looking over the previous year’s events when it was in the ERC and at drivers' comments just to get an understanding of the overall event. I want to approach the rally relaxed and enjoy it.”

This will be Latvia’s debut in the FIA World Rally Championship, taking over the place in the schedule held in recent seasons by neighbouring country Estonia. Based on Rally Liepāja, a round of the FIA European Rally Championship, the event will be run over fast gravel roads similar to those found in Estonia but is sure to provide its own particular challenges for the drivers, most of whom have not competed there previously.

“Latvia is obviously a new event to the WRC calendar which always creates a bit of buzz about it and it is nice to be a part of that for the first time” added Creighton.

Tet Rally Latvia begins on Thursday, July 18 with shakedown and the opening super special stage, before a full day follows on Friday, the longest of the event. Just over 100km are on offer spread over eight stages on Saturday before the traditional four-stage blast to the finish on Sunday.
 
Stonethrowers Rally
Craig Rahill dominated  Class 2 on Sunday’s Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally to bag more points in the Billy Coleman Award-counting class that runs within the Triton Showers  Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship. Such was the Ford Fiesta Rally4 driver’s pace, who was co-driven as usual by Conor Smith, he was able to back off substantially in the very wet middle loop and still win the class by over 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Second place went to former Karting champion Oran England who was co-driven by Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy-supported Darragh Mullen.

A burst water hose on the last stage, unfortunately, ended Jack Brennan’s run. The Billy Coleman Award winner showed good pace up to his retirement and was only four seconds off Rahill’s stage time on the previous test.

Goodwood Festival of Speed
Aoife Raftery made her maiden appearance at the iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend. She drove Craig Breen’s 2015 Circuit of Ireland Peugeot 208 T16 R5 on the rally stage over the festival's four days. As well as driving at the famous event Raftery had a busy weekend of networking with some of rallying’s biggest players. Over the course of the festival, she co-drove for Hyundai Motorsport’s Dani Sordo and Toyota Gazoo Racing’s team principal Jari-Matti Latvala and conducted interviews with Rally TV presenter Becs Williams.

“The festival overall was an incredible experience. My first time being there was quite special. I had the honour of driving the T16 R5 Craig won in the Circuit of Ireland in 2015, and it meant a lot to me to be able to drive a car with his name on the side,” she said. “To meet so many people at the highest level of the sport and sit alongside Jari-Matti and Dani was something I could never have imagined. It was incredible."

 Jon Armstrong was also in attendance and was on PR duty for Ford M-Sport and Codemasters.