RALLY OF NZ - Nelson wants to be hot in rally, but not ablaze

Kirsty Nelson hopes she is on fire when the Rally of New Zealand starts today.
Not quite as literally as when Nelson drove her home-town event, the Rally of Whangarei, earlier this year though.
The 18-year-old Nelson is running as a rookie in the NZ Championship this year, but is coming into the event a little cold missing the previous NZ round at the Rally of Hawke's Bay due to school commitments.
This means that she has not set foot in the car since the Rally of Wairarapa back in June. So Nelson's main concern was getting back up to speed in yesterday's shakedown.
"I'm hoping to get a good run in the car when we take it for a shakedown. If we don't get that chance then I'll have to take it easy for the first stage or so while I get used to the car again and I don't want to have to do that," Nelson said.
She will no doubt be looking for another rally such as Wairarapa where some smooth driving secured a top-10 placing.
But a DNF at the Rally of Whangarei due to an under-bonnet fire has let fellow rookie Callum McInnes gain a healthy lead in the rookie standings over second-placed Nelson.
McInnes, originally from Waipu, cut his teeth on the same roads as Nelson whose family lives in neighbouring Waiotira. Currently she is living in Cromwell where she attends the local college, taking advantage of its unique outdoor pursuits programme.
After this weekend's Rally of NZ there will be only one round left remaining in the NZ Rally Championship. The Rally of Nelson will be held over the 29th and 30th of September.
The Rally of New Zealand is a World Rally Championship event based out of Mystery Creek in Hamilton. The roads used for the 18 special stages over the three days are relatively close to the hub situated between Port Waikato and extending as far south as Waitomo.
The first car was due to start at 9.18am today when Special Stage One begins just south of Pirongia Forest Park and ends with the Mystery Creek Special Stage at 2.18pm on Sunday afternoon.
The world's best drivers will be here in New Zealand contesting the international championship.
Currently Finland's Marcus Gronholm is leading the standings over Sebastian Loeb by eight points. Gronholm won the Rally of New Zealand for the first time in 2000 and hopes to take it for a record fifth time this year.