No mental baggage for Hall

Nelson driver Kieran Hall's trying to put some horrific memories from last year's event out of his mind as he prepares for Saturday's start in the 2010 Rally of Nelson.

Hall and then co-driver Peter Hart were 28 kilometres into the sixth stage of last year's 0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson when he crashed while travelling about 170kmh, turning his Subaru Impreza into a "ball of metal".

Hall unveiled his brand-new 2008 Subaru Impreza STI Hatchback in April and after two abridged appearances in the New Zealand and Whangarei rallies, he and his new co-driver, Jamie Kibble, are looking at a more substantial effort in this weekend's 12-stage event. Despite battling a stomach bug earlier this week, Hall insisted he wouldn't be carrying any mental baggage into the rally.

"Obviously last year wasn't the way to end the season, especially in our home rally, but we always know that that sort of stuff can happen in this sport and, you know, I've moved on from that now and I don't think it affects me in any way any more.

"The only thing it does remind you of is the financial loss. I feel comfortable enough in the car to push hard and not let that be in the background, thinking, `I don't want to do this again'."It was just one of those things and I'm sure, this year, I can go past that corner with speed again."

The new partnership has enjoyed only limited racing time together, forced out of the WRC Rally New Zealand in May after breaking the input shaft in the gearbox just 4km from the end of the 14th stage and crashing out of the Whangarei event in July.

"It was just a slippery wooden bridge that caught three or four of the cars out [in Whangarei] and, unfortunately, it did a lot of damage to the engine for us. It ended up terminating the internals of the engine, so it became an expensive fix.

"But we've got it all back together now and we did some testing at the weekend and it feels really strong again and I'm looking forward to getting back out.

"Basically, the aim for us this weekend is to try and be a little more competitive. We've been lacking a little bit of speed this year in the new car, just trying to get our heads around the new driving style that it's requiring.

"We have a lot more rear-end traction in this car, and just the way that you set up for the corner, you've got to drive it slightly different on entry. It's something that's taking a little bit [of time] for me to overcome.

"I'm starting to get there and hopefully this weekend we'll be a bit closer to the front of the field and, you know, set ourselves up really for next year."

Finishing ahead of Nelson's other nine entries is also high on his to-do list.

"Obviously we'll be aiming for top Nelson driver. I think we've got the potential to do it. It's quite a strong contingent of Nelson drivers. It's just unfortunate that there aren't a lot of South Island drivers, though."

Nelson's Ben Hunt is another of the top local contenders and is currently lying second to Hamilton's Stephen Barker in the Group N 2WD championship in his Ford Fiesta ST.

Hunt and co-driver Tony Rawstorn moved into second place for the championship following their class win in Whangarei. They were 10 seconds off the pace over the opening stages before they made their move in special stage three, taking the lead, which they held for the rest of the event.

Hunt has 189 points to Barker's 212 and knows he has a major task ahead of him if he's to overhaul the Hamiltonian.

"I think we've got to win both days at Nelson and both days at Wairarapa [in the final round] to win the championship, so it's going to be pretty difficult," said Hunt.

"To finish four days' rallying in first place ... anything can happen, eh? But we'll give it our best shot. We'll go hard in Nelson and just see what happens."

Hunt and his team have been completing their last-minute preparations before visits to Wakefield and Brightwater schools this week ahead of Saturday's start.

"We've got all the major stuff finished. It's just all the little bits and pieces like wheel alignments and spanner checks and all that kind of little stuff. All the major parts we had to replace after Whangarei are all finished."

Hunt is also chasing Nelson's "top dog" mantle.

"That'd be nice. Last year, I think we were leading the Nelson drivers in about seventh overall but then we broke a stub axle with about three stages to go. So one of the goals for this year is probably to try and get in the top 10 of the rally and try and keep up with some of those four-wheel-drives, which is doable."

Nelson's other competing drivers this weekend are Dominick Unterberger, Garry Adcock, Ashton Wood, Chris Barnett, Greg Teece, Kris Gerard, James Hunt and Ben Neame.

- © Fairfax NZ News