Looking through the list of previous Junior World Rally champions, it's clear that victory in the feeder series is proof of blossoming talent.
Frenchmen Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier each won the title in 2001 and 2008 respectively before winning an incredible 17 World Rally Championships between them.
Most poignantly of all from an Irish perspective, the late Craig Breen joined that illustrious group in 2011 by winning what was then billed as the World Rally Championship Academy title.
It was an achievement that preceded his eventual elevation to a WRC seat. The Waterford native left an indelible mark on the sport and on those who knew him before his tragic death in April at the age of 33.
One of those he inspired was William Creighton, and this September the Co Down driver became the second Irishman to become a Junior WRC title winner.
As soon as the title victory was confirmed at the final round in Greece, he immediately dedicated his triumph to Breen, who had been in his thoughts throughout.
The title win sparked the start of a busy period for Creighton and his long-time co-driver Liam Regan as he looks to build on their success and the 25-year-old took time out to chat in depth to RTÉ Sport about plotting the path towards the long-held ambition of getting to the World Rally Championship.
Those hopes will be helped no end by the silverware and recognition gained from 2023, in what he had regarded as a last chance saloon at the Junior WRC level.
"We had done the championship twice before - once before in the same car. It was probably our last shot at this championship to try and win it," Creighton said.
Watch the full interview here alongside fellow Irish drivers, Alex Dunne and Indy NXT's James Roe Jr:
"It would have been very difficult to put another year together and there was quite a lot of pressure in having that aim but going into the first round never having even won an event in the previous year.
"So it was the aim but there was a lot to prove to sort of make that feel real."
Creighton and Regan started the 2023 Junior WRC campaign as they meant to go on, with victory at the opening round in Sweden, collecting nine stage wins along the way.
'Long story short, the bonnet came up during one of the stages'
The Moira man took great confidence from that but the adversity that came their way would also be a template for the pitfalls that they would have to overcome later in the championship.
"Starting in Sweden, we led the event, had quite a strong lead and then we had some issues and long story short, the bonnet came up during one of the stages," Creighton said.
"We had to stop and Liam had to effectively stand on it, get it back down and go on to win that event by 0.6 of a second. After 300 kilometres, to win by 0.6 of a second, it makes it really sweet.
"And then another win in Sardinia, another really tough event. We had a couple of punctures and stuck to a gameplan that was different to one that you might have at a faster rally, just trying to preserve the car and think smart and it worked for us."
Going into the fifth and final round at Greece's Rally Acropolis in September, Creighton held the championship lead over Paraguay's Diego Dominguez and France's Laurent Pellier.
But then a spanner was thrown into the works when his Ford Fiesta Rally3 car sustained a coolant issue that led to overheating on the Friday, putting his chances in jeopardy.
"Rallying is a tough sport so you quickly have to learn how to deal with these sort of problems," he said.
"It was really difficult. We had problems really with a pipe coming off the radiator and we started to get alarms and we were pretty close to the end of the stage and it was difficult to know what to do.
"You don't want to do damage to the car that can't be fixed and put you out of the event altogether.
"Unfortunately, we had to retire [from the stage]. M-Sport Poland did an unbelievable job then to fix the car after and with a mixture of other guys having problems of their own in the remaining two days of the rally and us winning enough stages, we were able to win [the championship].
"So to go from such a low at the start of the rally to then try and gather yourself back up and work for the rest of the event to come out as winners... I thought Sweden could never be replicated in how that all panned out and then whenever what happened in Greece, it was quite unbelievable but [it's] a rally that felt like it went on for two weeks.
"It was unbelievable to get the result that we did in the way that we did."
It was an achievement that resonated back home with a homecoming at Dublin Airport to welcome Creighton and Regan.
But for all those involved in Irish motorsport, there was also a palpable poignancy given the tragic loss of Breen months earlier during a pre-test event ahead of the Croatia Rally where the Junior WRC were also due to have a round.
"For Irish motorsport as a whole, it's been extremely difficult. There have been a number of fatalities in rallying, drivers and co-drivers, this year. It's difficult for everybody but particularly for their loved ones," Creighton said, before touching on how Breen's generosity was evident during what were his final days.
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"I think it was the Thursday before we headed off to Croatia and he was at a junior rallying open day and I was also there and he's giving kids advice, he's giving me advice and you say goodbye to head off to the event and then news comes through of what happened.
"It's very surreal and so difficult for his family and his friends and particularly at this time of the year it's going to be very difficult for them all.
"We now have the Craig Breen Foundation, which was announced. Not that we needed that to keep Craig's memory alive but that will definitely do that and I think it epitomises him.
"He was there that day giving kids advice and helping them out and he was already supporting the next generation coming through and it's nice to have this [foundation] in place now that can definitely continue."
Breen will serve as inspiration for the next wave of Irish drivers who dream of reaching the World Rally Championship.
It's a target that Creighton is also focused on and the benefit of winning the Junior WRC is that he will now have four fully-funded drives with M-Sport Ford in the WRC-2 - the second tier championship - next year along with 200 Pirelli tyres.
"It would be enough for a full season and a full season would be seven rounds," he said.
"We're guaranteed the four events and that's an amazing prize. I've been with M-Sport Poland now for all my years in the Junior WRC so to have four events with M-Sport again in the next category, it's nice to continue that relationship and of course, we're going to want more than just four events and you want to do more than that if you're serious about progressing in the WRC.
"So we've been working on trying to put a programme in place over the winter and there's still a lot of work to do but we're very much focused on doing that."
And being agile with decision-making will be key for navigating 2024, he adds.
"Firstly, this year we need to be smart. To even do a full championship in the WRC-2 is a massive ask and we're working hard and that's what we'd like to do," he said.
"But if you do that, you need to be smart in the events that you choose to do. We'll return to the rallies that we've already done and got experience of and where we feel comfortable.
"But there will also be events that we're not going to have done and we need to go there for the first time which is always difficult in rallying, trying to make pace notes on a two pass recce and then doing that at 50-60kms per hour and then trying to drive flat out in the rally car is quite challenging.
"But if we can do that and think about it as a multi-year program to get experience of those events and work our way up through the WRC-2 championship, then ultimately the aim is to get to the top of the sport and get a seat in a top manufacturer's car in WRC-1.
"That still remains the goal and we've just got to figure out the best pathway to make that possible."
