Creighton claims maiden BRC win on East Riding Stages Rally

William Creighton and Liam Regan made the perfect start to their British Rally Championship campaign by grabbing their first overall victory on Sunday’s East Riding Stages Rally.

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy duo dominated the ten-stage event with seven fastest times sealing a 23.8-second, start-to-finish win over Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin.

It was a dream Toyota Yaris Rally2 debut for Creighton who needed no time to settle into his new Castrol MEM Rally Team surroundings and Michelin-shod Yaris.

Changeable February conditions on the speedy Yorkshire roads demanded a high level of bravery, skill, and trust in pacenotes. Creighton set a blistering fastest time on East Riding’s 12.7-kilometre Wawne Common opener, taking an early 5.1-second lead over Scotland’s Garry Pearson. A lock-out of four stage wins through Sunday morning’s dry but muddy opening loop built the 27-year-old’s advantage to 18.7 seconds over second, now occupied by four-time champion Cronin.

A controlled drive through an increasingly wet second half to Easy Riding’s itinerary of stages maintained Creighton’s lead, keeping his cool to take a maiden rally victory he showed no signs of giving up.

“I am delighted with the result,” Creighton reflected after BRC’s opening round. “It was difficult moving into a new car with not a lot of seat time, particularly on a low-grip rally. You never know how the car is going to react when you hit that first bit of mud in fifth gear.

“But it felt comfortable from the start, we clicked with the car and found a nice rhythm. We never had to force anything, instead built our confidence stage-by-stage.

“A lot of work has gone in over the last month whenever this opportunity became available. I am really happy to get a good result for everybody who has helped us get it over the line.

“A huge thanks to Liam for doing a great job on the notes today and to all the sponsors on the car, Castrol – everybody seems to have loved the livery. And of course, thank you as always to the Motorsport Ireland Academy; without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I am just really, really happy, I honestly didn’t know what to expect, how long it was going to take us to gain that confidence with the car. Fair play to Toyota and the guys who built this car because it is some bit of kit!”

The MI Rally Academy filled Junior BRC’s podium positions on its opening round of the year. A tight East Riding battle kicked off on stage one as Craig Rahill and Conor Smith set the class’s fastest time, going 1.8 seconds quicker than Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen. Only 5.1 seconds covered the trio of Peugeot 208 Rally4s as Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock rounded out the top three.

Rahill eked out an 11.8-second gap by the end of stage four as Grogan slipped ahead of McBride by 0.6 seconds at the end of East Riding’s opening loop.

Rahill’s searing Peugeot 208 debut came unstuck on the rally’s slippery second loop. A pair of spins on stages six and seven cost the 21-year-old over 25 seconds as he dropped to third behind his academy teammates.

The Cavan pilot refocused to end round one of Junior BRC with a brace of fastest times, enough to salvage a runner-up finish in East Riding’s Rally4 category.

“It was a successful first day out in the new car,” Rahill concluded. “We found a good steady pace straightaway to take the first four stage wins.

“We had another learning experience when the rain arrived and unfortunately we got caught out under braking and spun the car. We bounced back to get two more stage wins but the harm was done on the previous two so we had to settle for second.”

As Rahill skated into trouble, McBride found his groove in the wet conditions. A hat-trick of fastest times jumped him up from third to first with two stages to go.

The Donegal driver shadowed Rahill’s stage wins on East Riding’s final tests to take a 9.4-second Junior BRC victory. It brings the 21-year-old’s tally of Junior BRC wins since 2023 to four and gives him the upper hand at the start of this year’s championship.

“It was a great weekend,” said McBride. “I am delighted to get the win.

“The conditions were really tricky and I felt we were a bit too cautious over the first loop of stages. We made a few changes to the car in service and it felt better straightaway, allowing us to push harder in the afternoon.

“Our aim was to take solid points from Junior BRC’s opener so we are delighted to take the win after a great day of racing with Keelan [Grogan] and Craig [Rahill].”

Ensuring it was an all-Irish Junior BRC podium, Grogan brought his 208 Rally4 home in third, a result he was happy to secure in Yorkshire’s challenging conditions.

“I am happy to get through a very tricky East Riding Stages with a podium finish,” described Grogan.

“It was nice to get back into the car and gain valuable seat time in both dry and wet conditions.”