Team TransNet – Rally Nelson preview

A season to date of steadily increasing speed has been interrupted by two legs ending in DNF's which have now ruled Inkster out of a top finish in the New Zealand Rally Championship, in which he currently sits ninth.

"Unfortunately we have now had two DNF's which makes it a bit hard to come back from." says Inkster. "Now our intention is to treat these two final rallies (Nelson and Rally Wairarapa) as individual events, learn as much as possible about the car and up our pace for next year."

Inkster and Goldring have been seeded sixth for the event, the same seeding as last year when they campaigned their open class 4wd Mitsubishi Evo 6.5. Although they set top five stage times on the majority of the weekends stages and took the day two open class victory, two punctures on the opening day meant it was a frustrating weekend.

This year they will be looking to avoid the punctures that the Nelson event seems so famous for, the key to claiming a good result at this event. The forestry roads have plenty of sharp rocks lining the route, making it one of the most unpredictable rallies of the year.

Rally Nelson gets underway with a ceremonial start at the World of Wearable Arts (WOW) centre in Nelson on Friday 20 August. On the Saturday, crews will tackle 144km spread across six special stages, with a further six special stages and 111km the following day to wrap up the event.

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