But the Irishman’s day was not as straightforward as the leaderboard may suggest. A puncture in the morning cost him around two minutes and he also pulled over briefly in the day’s final test, a 49.90km marathon through Monte Lerno.
Such was the challenge posed by Monte Lerno, however, that all other remaining Junior WRC crews also had mid-stage stoppages. Creighton was the least effected and seized the top spot from Diego Dominguez to lead the Paraguayan overnight.
Laurent Pellier was hampered by a loose intercooler pipe on Thursday evening’s super special and his troubles continued into Friday, dropping over three minutes in SS4. The Frenchman does, however, remain in podium position, albeit five minutes back from the lead.
Tom Rensonnet and Raul Hernández completed the depleted Ford Fiesta Rally3 field as Eamonn Kelly, Hamza Anwar and Roberto Blach all retired.
Finland
Italy
Hungary