Creighton: All eyes on Acropolis Friday

Creighton enters the title-decider carrying a 29-point lead over nearest challenger Laurent Pellier and, while that may appear to be a reasonably comfortable margin, double classification points offered at the Lamia-based fixture mean that anything can still happen.

The 25-year-old Irishman is one of six entered drivers still in mathematical contention of claiming the coveted title and has identified Friday - the first full day of the rally - as one to be approached strategically.

Comprising five stages and covering a competitive distance of 101.98km, Friday offers no respite in the form of service opportunities. A brief tyre fitting zone at Casino Loutraki follows the initial pair of gruelling gravel tests and provides crews with a sole moment of reprieve on what will undoubtedly be a demanding day of competition.

“I think Friday is going to be really important for the rally,” Creighton admitted. “We always see in these rough gravel rallies that, if you can get through Friday clean, it’s a big plus and then you have something to work from. It’ll be a challenge just to manage everything and get through with as few issues as possible.”

But, assessing the situation remains intricate, as Creighton elaborated: “It’s hard to try and gauge it because it’s all down to where the other guys are sitting and stage wins. I think we have to try and just set that aside and really just try to focus on our own rally, trying to manage it and getting through as cleanly as possible.

“Of course, you could drive through extremely slowly and get to the finish of the day, that would be guaranteed, but then if no one else has issues then you can fall behind. It’s about trying to find that balance and not get wrapped up in what the others are doing, and just trying to do the best we can.”

The driver who is crowned FIA Junior WRC champion in Greece will receive a career-boosting prize package which includes four fully-funded WRC2 drives in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 for 2024, a pre-event test before each rally and 200 Pirelli tyres.