New Opportunities And Home Advantage For Nelson

Whangarei driver Kirsty Nelson enters the third round of the Vantage Aluminium New Zealand Rally Championship with a handful of opportunities within her grasp.

Last week she was accepted into the Motorsport Elite Academy in Dunedin being held next month where she will join another eight drivers who were selected from 43 candidates that applied to the popular programme.

"We applied for it because we had heard a lot of good things about the academy. They put me through a fitness test which I thought may be a problem because to be honest I'm not as fit as I could be but I'm in and really looking forward to it." she said.

She will join a growing list of past academy attendees which is made up up of this country's most talented up and coming drivers including fellow Whangarei driver Caine Lobb who came away from the academy this time last year very happy with the experience and results.

Nelson will attend the week long programme in July where she and the other eight drivers will focus on developing a wide range of skills needed for the modern day professional race car driver.

Also this weekend at the NAC Hella International Rally of Whangarei there will be more opportunity for Nelson with the Pirelli Star Driver search. The weekend's rally is a qualifying stage for the scheme which gives eligible drivers the chance to go forward to the next qualifying round for the region and the chance to become one of the top five drivers selected from around the world.

Eligible drivers this weekend are those from New Zealand, Australia and Asia who are under the age of 27 and driving a Group N car in the Rally where they will score points according to their performance. The next qualifying round for this region is the Rally of Malaysia in October where the top two drivers from this round can be granted financial assistance for their entry into that event.

The ultimate five top contenders will then be awarded a drive in six rounds of the 2009 World Rally Championship in either a Group N car or Super 2000 entry.

A third opportunity has opened where Kirsty Nelson enters the Rally of Whangarei as the top running woman driver in the championship. After Emma Gilmour fell on mechanical woes at the previous round at Otago, Nelson was able to overtake her in the rally and in the standings where her consistency has come into play once more as she creeps up the points table.

At the Rally of Whangarei last year Gilmour suffered a major accident on day two where she suffered concussion after rolling her car down a very steep bank but says she is very much looking forward to the event and getting on to the world class roads of the rally.

Nelson is very much on her home ground at this event where she literally grew up on these roads with some of the stages actually going past her family's farm in Waiotira. With an at home advantage against a more experienced Gilmour, the battle between the two women of the national rally scene will add another very interesting dimension to the event.

"I would love to beat Emma this year. She's a good driver but it would still be very nice if I could be the top female this season." said Nelson.

After two rounds of the Vantage Aluminium New Zealand Rally Championship Kirsty Nelson sits in a credible 10th place overall on the points table equal with Mark Tapper and just three points ahead of Gilmour.

The action gets underway on Friday at 2pm at Whangarei's town basin with a Waka Challenge where New Zealand drivers including Nelson go up against the internationals to see who the best paddlers are. Later on in the day a driver's autograph session at 4pm is followed by the ceremonial start at Cameron St Mall beginning at 5pm.

Special Stage One begins at Wairere Rd near Paparoa south of Whangarei with the first car due to leave at 9.18am Saturday.