'It hasn't sunk in' - Creighton wins British rally title
William Creighton finished fourth at the Cambrian Rally to seal the title
- Published
Northern Ireland's William Creighton says winning the British Rally Championship title for the first time "hasn't sunk in".
Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan finished fourth at the Cambrian Rally to comfortably claim top spot.
The 27-year-old Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver needed to finish no lower than eighth to win the title and he duly obliged with a safe drive in his Toyota GR Yaris.
It was a stark contrast in emotions for Creighton compared with 12 months ago, when he narrowly missed out on the BRC title to Chris Ingram at the final round of the season.
It is the latest success in Creighton's growing resume, as the BRC title comes after triumphs in the Junior World and British Rally Championships.
Saturday's composed drive puts Creighton on a list of BRC champions including rallying legend Colin McRae and current World Rally Championship points leader Elfyn Evans.
The Moira driver thanked Motorsport Ireland, his Melvyn Evans team, sponsors and supporters for a "sensational" year.
"Today, we join a staggering list of legends," Creighton posted on social media.
"[Colin and Jimmy] McRae, [Ari] Vatanen, [Roger] Clark, [Hannu] Mikkola…the list goes on and now me and Liam join that line up.
"The Junior BRC was one of the first places it all started for us, and it's really not sunk in yet."
Creighton and Regan won the opening round of the season with a dominant victory on the East Riding Stages and, after finishing in second place at the Carlisle Stages, he stormed to victory on the Grampian Forest Rally to take control of the title battle.
The crew finished third in the BRC at Rali Ceredigion in September, which also ran as part of the European Rally Championship.
The rally was won by Max McRae, nephew of the late McRae. Creighton's title challengers Romet Jurgenson and Meirion Evans, who both needed to win in Wales, were second and third.
McRae, 21, is the fourth driver across three generations of his family to win in the BRC after his grandfather and five-time champion Jimmy, his father Alister and 1995 WRC champion Colin.
There was also Irish success in the Junior BRC as Donegal's Kyle McBride took the title by winning his class at the Cambrian for the fourth time in six events.