Victorious Creighton strengthens Junior title bid in Italy

On a rally which just two of the eight M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 entrants completed without utilising restart rules, Creighton dodged several dramas to head Paraguay’s Diego Dominguez by 1min 45.9sec at the finish.

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver briefly dropped behind Dominguez on Saturday when he stopped to change a wheel in Su Filigosu, but swiftly reclaimed the lead and left his rival floundering with a wet weather masterclass later in the day.

Creighton’s triumph, the second of his campaign, means he continues to lead the championship with two rounds remaining in Estonia and Greece.

Roberto Blach retired after going off the road in Friday’s opening leg but the Spaniard fought back to secure his place on the final podium spot. Behind him was Laurent Pellier, who also found the scenery on Saturday afternoon.

Tom Rensonnet was another driver to suffer an off-road excursion, coming unstuck in the same test as Pellier. He rejoined the action on Sunday, however, and claimed fifth position ahead of Eamonn Kelly. Raul Hernández and Hamza Anwar completed the leaderboard