APRC RALLY WHANGAREI 2010

With the weekend away up in Whangarei for the International Rally of Whangarei we battled the rain and the challenging road conditions.

After a skid around the Pohe Island super special stage 5 times on Friday as a shakedown prior to the event it was evident that we had a new car in terms of the way it drove, thanks to the work Possum Bourne Motorsport did to get the centre diff computer working properly, something that was going to take some driving style adjustments to make the most of its capabilities.

After a good wash the car was put on display in the centre of town for the public and then followed by the official start ramp outside the big shopping mall.

Day 1's racing was all about learning the car and it didn't come without a few costley mistakes. With the car now turning in on demand throughout the corners, I was able to commit myself and carry more corner speed but it was taking a little to get used to the way I needed to approach the corners under braking.We learnt throughout the progression of the day that for the diff to be used to its best that I needed to approach the corners very straight and not so sideways.

It was great to see our afternoon stage times improving and getting alot closer to the front runners however the two near misses were reminders of how easy it is to end the rally. You can watch both of these accidents on www.youtube.com and typing in Kieran Hall rally Whangarei 2010. We finished day 1 in 10th place despite out two close calls which cost us alot of time.

Day 2 was very wet and well not the most pleasant of conditions. With a ten minute service first thing in the morning before the first stage we decided to groove our tyres to give extra traction in the wet and slippery conditions. We took the first few km of the 1st stage cautiously to get a feeling for the amount of traction there was and then quickly put the pace back on and tried to keep a steady safe pace as our aim was to finish the rally and get some more points in the championship.

We were consistent all morning until we were caught out on a singel lane wooden bridge in stage 4 which turned out to be like ice and unfortunately the car took off and we had no show of the sharp left at the end of it. We went head on into the bank and damaged the front end of the Southfuels / Northfuels Subaru and we we had to withdraw from the event. An unfortunate end for the team after travelling so far.The same Bridge caught out a few of the other top competitors as well and it proved to be a costly stage for many of the teams.

WRC RALLY NZ WRAP

The weekend was very busy and exciting for the Hall Motorsport Team and the brand new Southfuels Subaru with our first competitive and biggest event we have contested in our rally career.

We competed in the 3 day New Zealand round of the World Rally Championships (WRC) held in Auckland alongside the world's best drivers including 6 times and current world champion Sebastion Loeb.

It all started with a reconnaissance drive through the stages in a rental car to check the pace notes over two days prior to the start of the rally before showing off our car to the huge crowds throughout the weekend. We had a shakedown around the War Memorial and domain in central Auckland which was full tarmac and it was great to see our car was drawing the crowds.

The Centre diff issue that was present during the previous weekends testing session was not able to be resolved prior to the event. The Service crew had spent all day wednesday with technicians in Pukekohe and Warkworth trying to sort it but to no avail. However it was never going to stop us from competing but it would mean that I had to change my driving style.

Thursday afternoon we attended the ceremonial start at the packed out viaduct. There were lots and lots of comments about the car and how good it looks.

Day 1. The first stage I took easy to get used to Jamie my new navigator and the 1st pass on each of the stages was certainly testing with the centre diff issue causing the car to under steer alot on the loose gravel.

Of more pressing and of major concern to us was the fact that at the controlled fuel service we had 49 litres of the wrong fuel put in the car which was affecting the engine performance. The first five stages of the day were a srtuggle with the loss of engine power until we could clear the fuel and were able to refuel the car with the correct 98 octane fuel that the car had been tuned to. Not our fault but it could have been devestating to our rally result if we had been randomly fuel tested and found to have blended fuel resulting in exclusion!

However with these issues all behind us the afternoon stages went very well and I was feeling comfortable with the in car communication between Jamie and myself. The car was performing as well as could be expected with the locked centre diff issue.

Day 2. After a good nights sleep and an early start it was time to attack the next set of stages.

It was not the best start for day two. I was held up by other competitors in 2 different stages after the drivers had pulled back onto the road right in front of me after they had punctures.I had to follow them for 12 and 15km respectably and having to stop several times as visibility was nil. Some officaial should make it quite clear that all drivers must check there mirrors before returning to the stage. In the first instant it was so close to a heavy nose to tail impact I was so grateful for my cars big brakes.The young driver was really very sorry when he realised what he had done.The second instance was equally as bad and very unsettling on the nerves.( the luck of the draw and twice in three stages, scary stuff!) To add insult to near disaster both Jamie and I were left totally speechless when at the end of the 12th stage I stopped and politly asked the NZ driver if he had used his rear vision mirror before he started back on the stage because we had nearly landed in his boot and kissed his spare wheel. He just replied with a very non sportsman like remark and drove off. (an unbelievable response!) Not wanting to dwell on the situation, I just hoped that there wasn't going to be a third instance with another driver because I wasn't so sure I had alot of luck left. We were still struggling with traction and it was more difficult with the locked centre diff in the tight twisty stuff.

I was determined to prove that the new car has the pace so was really looking foward to having a blast around Hampton Downs. What an amazing sight when we arrived to 20000 plus spectators.

The Hampton Downs super special stage was the real high buzz point for us. We had an absolute ball backing the car into the corners and 4WD drifting. We posted our best time for the weekend with a fifth in stage .

We were now even more determined to put right the times that we could have posted in the morning passes. Having set about posting a good stage time we were unexpectedly halted. We broke the input shaft in the gearbox ending our event just 4 km from the end of the 14th stage.

We did have the opportunity to rejoin under super rally rules but as we still had handling issues with the car we made a conscious decision to preserve the car. It was still nice and tidy unlike many other cars on this event. We decided to withdraw so we could prepare to dismantle the car and leave the gearbox and computers in Auckland to be repaired before our next event.

It has been a difficult rally but we have come away with some real positives that we can build on. There was always going to be the maiden car blues to get past and we can now look forward to improving the car and getting it sorted for the next round of the New Zealand Championships. Our next round is the International Rally of Whangarei on the 3rd and 4th July, another high profile event with International teams competing. Last year we had a good run at this event with a 3rd overall in Group N 4WD. We also quailified as the second entry in the Perelli Star driver award. It would be great for the team if we could get a podium there this year.

 MISSION COMPLETE!!  A real credit to the team.

Top Team Effort

The team have maintained the momentum with a huge effort over the long weekend and now with just a little over 700 hours now having been committed to the build. We envisage possibly another 200 hours to complete the build to perfection. With the long weekend we have had holdups with freight and parts and it has forced us to abandon the opportunity of competing at rally Otago. The team are all very dissappionted but rallying is a sport all about racing the clock. ( If you take your time and do things right, it saves you time in the end )

However all is not lost as we now have time on our side to do some serious and productive testing before we attend Rally New Zealand at the beginning of May. We will now have time to prepare for an offical launch of the Southfuels Subaru and presentation of the car to our sponsors and supporters on the 24th April. We will also be spending quality time promoting our team and take the winners of our promotion on the ride of there lives.

Dedication and Commitment shows progress

After a massive commitment and determined effort by the team and dedicated band of helpers the new rally car is taking shape. Over 560 hours have now been committed to the build and at this point we still have a little way to go. Our efforts are still concentrated on the participation in the Otago Rally on the 10th & 11th April. A very busy week ahead as we look forward to the completion of the car. With only one week to go we find we are waiting for parts to arrive on the next courier!

Once again a big thankyou and welcome to those that have joined our team via our 250 club, it has been a very successful campaign for those vital funds that will allow our team to continue and achieve our goals. Every single member of our club is very important to our team and we hope that you can also support those that have joined our team by using their services in the near future. Check out the interesting and wide variety of service opportunities that each member can offer on our fundraiser page.

To date we have 85 members. Our first major draw for the promotion prizes was conducted last evening by the local Police Officer and I'm sure there are now some very excited members out there. The Village News, Southfuels Spring Grove and Aimex will now each enjoy free advertising TV incar footage and or just free rides at speed on the gravel with Kieran.

Due to popular demand our 250 club promotion advertising has been continued and we look forward to having more members and  more promotion draws and prizes throughout the year.

Catch you all next week a rally car needs to be built.

Its time for a bit of an update from the Hall Motorsport Team.

There has been a lot of time and effort over recent weeks with building the new car and also campaigning for those vital funds.

I would like to say a big thankyou and welcome to those who have joined our team via our 250 club. It has 1 month left before the big draw and so far to date 30 tickets have been sold. I will be taking more time off my normal day job as an engineer to face up to more local businesses asking for their support over the next few weeks. The more support we can get the faster we can get back on the road and hopefully for the first round of the National Series on the 10th and 11th April down in Dunedin, not that far away at all.

I would also like to thank the BNZ bank in Motueka for suppling the team with some flash new team shirts which we will get sign written for the team to wear as we travel around the country.

The car is now starting to take shape with over 300 hours gone into it already and getting close to being ready for the painters (Quality Paint and Panel) to make the inside look top dollar before the final fit out begins.

I'ts going to be an extremely busy month ahead but we look forward to the completion of the car and getting back behind the wheel flying the flag for Nelson and the Hall Motorsport Team.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/sport/3230103/Team-rallies-round-for-rebuild

Hall works hard for a return to the NZRC.

As of the 6th December we are underway with the build of a new car with the purchase of a brand new 2008 Subaru Impreza Sti Hatchback. There have been many phone calls around the country to get to this stage and a big thank you to Kevin and the team at Possum Bourne Motorsport for all their help so far.

We opted to step up to the newer 2008 Sti Hatch instead of the same model that we used previously as the initial purchase price was the same. We get the benefit of the latest shape and extra rear end traction that has been the talking point of the rally community. It is going to cost slightly more to build but we will have a better car to race at the end of the day.

The new car arrived in Nelson on Thursday 3rd and we held an unveilling and Bar-B-Q for our season sponsors and supporters on the Saturday before the car was totally gutted ready for the build to take shape. The whole team have been very busy this week and the car is now sitting in a super lightened state ready to start the seam welding and the roll cage installation.

A super team effort and I can't thank the team members enough and especially their wives and partners for allowing them the time to help us rebuild a shattered dream. We look forward to a busy summer as we work hard to build the car up to Group N rally specifications and campaign for much needed support in order to rejoin the New Zealand Rally Championships starting in April 2010.

We will keep you all up to date as we celebrate the achievments and complete the steps along the way for our team to reach our goals. Our Team look forward to preparing and promoting a locally built and prepaired Nelson car as we return for the National Championship for 2010.

Rising Star International Shootout update

It has been a very busy past month for me however we have emerged stronger. During late November I competed against Hayden Paddon and Josh Marston for the Rising Stars International Award up in Auckland, a great weekend where we were pushed hard and I gave it my absolute best.

It was a real eye opener as the judges did there hardest to find our weaknesses both physically and mentally and yes they got everyone in some way or another. Media interviews were a strong point of mine and my fitness was pretty good, the weakness that was revealed of mine was sponsorship which I will now focus on to be stronger in the future.

Unfortunately for the team I was unsuccessful in taking the award which went to Hayden Paddon to add to his very successful year. However we have learnt a lot from the weekend and I was proud to be a part of the shootout.

Rally Nelson Shattered Dream

The weekend was the final round of the Vantage Aluminium New Zealand Rally Championships in which we went into leading the Rookie championship on points and 4th overall. An ideal position for the team to be in, however it wasn't to be.

We had positioned ourselves well during the Saturday stages managing to avoid punctures as many others had received. Dust was an issue for a few stages as the result of competitors in front slowed with punctures which in turn slowed our times, but by the start of the final stage we were climbing back up towards the front.

At the start of the 6th and final stage we were 15 seconds down on 4th and 4 seconds ahead of Matt Jansen in 6th who was chasing us for Rookie honours. Unfortunately the final stage of the day would be our undoing with a huge crash destroying the car and our hopes of a dream debut season. A large hidden rock sent us into a massive roll at 170kph. Peter and I were lucky enough to walk away from the accident, myself being a little beaten up in the face by incoming rocks but at least that was all.

We had the TV camera in the car thanks to Southfuels which caught all the drama from inside the car which made it onto last nights TV1 and TV3 news. Also making Plays of the week.

As from here the team will now focus on stripping the car to a bare shell before making a decision on weather the car can be rebuilt or a new car. Either way it is an expensive exercise and will involve a huge commitment.

The team endeavours to return next year and continue in pursuit of our goal to be national champions, however we will need to secure support to achieve this but with a dedicated team this will be realised.

Our team is very grateful for all your support over the season. We have still finished 6th in class, 7th overall and 3rd in the Rookie championship.

Hall Wants Rookie Championship Driver Award

Nelsons leading rally team of Kieran Hall and Peter Hart in there Southfuels sponsored Subaru are looking forward to putting the icing on the cake this weekend at there home Rally and the final round of the New Zealand National Rally Championship. They will be in pursuit of the Rookie title they have worked so hard to wrestle back from disaster. After a torrid start to the season at Hawkes Bay in early April with mechanical issues many had written this team off.

After a very determined and measured fight back during the season all that is left is to finish this weekends Nelson Rally among the fancied teams to secure there first major title. Hall leads the Rookie Championship by 11 points from Matt Jansen of Christchurch. Currently in 4th outright for the Gold star award a top three podium for Hall in this Championship is out of reach but to finish fourth overall in a rookie year would be just rewards for this team. However Hall is well aware of the nature of this sport and especially of this home event. A fast flowing and sometimes technical rally run on mainly forest roads. It can be a tough rally on tyres and punctures need to be avoided, any small mistakes are sorely punished and it is never over till the finish ramp is reached. Hall will have to keep his eyes open and stick to his game plan as the weekend unfolds.

The International Rising Stars Scholarship shootout will also be on Hall's mind as he has nominated this as his final round to qualify for the shootout in November. Currently in third place he could well qualify in second place overall and avoid the wild card selection process.

It's been a month of huge decisions for the Hall Motorsport team. Our chance to chase the ultimate prize in the Pirelli Star driver at Repco Rally Austalia came down to a last minute funding issue trying to lease cars and the fact that we would not be able to run our car in the Nelson Rally due to shipping schedules. It was a huge disappointment that we could not compete but we had to be realistic and look to the future of where our team wanted to be in 4 years time. However we are grateful for the invitation to attend as guests to Repco Rally Australia and be part of the action among the World rally Teams. The experience and ideas that our team has had the opportunity to absorb during rally week is priceless. We look forward to using this information as we move on and upwards to achieve our goals that were put in place for our 4 year plan to be New Zealand Champions before our season began. Hopefully after this weekend we can tick the Rookie Box as goal number one.

POSSUM BOURNE MEMORIAL RALLY

Last weekend I competed in the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally in Hamilton. Always a great clubmen's rally run annually for the past 4 years by the Pukekohe Car Club in memory of the late Possum Bourne. The event usually runs in conjunction and along side Rally New Zealand using the same roads that the World Rally Cars use with the famous and scenic Whanga Coast and the huge 44km Waitomo Stages. With the new format of the WRC cars now visiting bi annually it was a chance for the more experienced teams to have a crack at the award and to get valuable testing before there next events. This event was a compulsory round for our team as part of the Rising Stars International Scholarship Series.

This was a rally of many firsts for the Hall Motorsport Team in more ways than one as I had to compete without Peter Hart my regular Co driver. I was teamed with Erin Kyle a young lady who is no stranger to the sport and is often seen calling the notes for Alister McRae or the late Malcolm Stewart. For me it was all new roads that were seen for the first time in Recce. I hadn't ever experienced or been on these types of fast but often very tight technical roads before. There were some pretty classy teams among the 76 teams entered with a mix of National champions and previous winners of the event.

I claimed the Group N 4WD class in the Southfuels Subaru ahead of National Champion Hayden Paddon. A very creditable 5th overall and the prestige and honour of being the first Subaru home in memory for the Legendary Possum Bourne. I had a near faultless run with the only hiccups being a wheel alignment issue in the first three stages where we spun twice loosing valuable time, also when a faulty wheel sensor caused a few anxious moments in the last few stages. The highlight for me was the last 44km Waitomo stage. I entered this stage with a 13.9 second lead over Paddon for overall honours but because of the point's structure for the Rising Stars stages we were tied equal. Whoever won the last stage would take the 10 points on offer for this series. After 44km of fast and furious driving the two of us finished the stage within .08 of a second from each other which was simply amazing. Despite this intense battle I maintained my 13 second led over Paddon for overall honours but had to settle for 2nd in the Rising Stars.

I wish to commend Erin my co-driver on a great days racing and thank her for calling perfect notes all day. The respective service crews had done an amazing job with limited resources. Due to the layout of the rally two service crews were required and this made life quite difficult and required some good team strategy and team management. Thanks to Barry Reid of Hastings and young Richard from Winger Subaru Hamilton for servicing for our team at Raglan and to Splitty, Wobblz, Steve, Team Dad and Camp Mother at Oparau.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the following sponsors that worked so hard to have the car prepared and ready to race after our mishap at Wairarapa. Not an easy fix.

Splitty - Kustom Fabrication * Landon - Collision Centre Richmond * Gabrielle & Tony - Signs and Stripes * Kerry Martin - Smith & Smith Glass * Dwight - Scottspeed Performance Engines Steve Sullivan, Andrew Bradley, Peter Hart, Dad and Splitty for there time and efforts in the last week with very late nights. Hope you can all get some well earned sleep and rest.

HALL HITS THE FRONT AFTER RALLY WAIRARAPA

The sweet taste of sucess for the boys after Rally Wairarapa  - photo credit Euan Cameron

Nelson's Kieran Hall and Peter Hart in the Southfuels sponsored Subaru have produced yet another outstandibg and rewarding result at the penultimate round of this year's New Zealand Rally Championship - Rally Wairarapa - last weekend July 18 - 19.

Their impressive drive secured a second consecutive podium finish in the Goldstar Championship, and a third Round Win in the Rookie Championship now sees him take the lead in that series.

Hall and Hart fought hard to hunt down the leaders and get back in front in the Rookie title chase and they are now up to 4th overall in the National Championship with the final round to be run in Nelson on the 19th & 20th of September.

Hall opted to use the Wairarapa rally to get his first experience of the hard compound WRC Control Tyre that he will have to use at WRC Rally Australia for the Pirelli Star Driver Final Shootout in September. This tyre choice in the prevailing conditions certainly did appear to have him a little off his usual pace in the tight technical slippery stages that he usually enjoys, but it still needed to be tried.

An unsettling incident in the first stage resulted in some major panel damage and Hall was left questioning his "in-car confidence" whilst also ruing his tyre choice in the slippery muddy conditions.

However, with some team strategy and a switch back to the trusted and familar Dunlop tyres, he knuckled down for the rest of the days stages to restore his confidence, draw closer to his rivals and hunt down the rookie leader. Although the car was looking a little worse for wear, its performance and handling was not affected, with Hall finishing Day One in 7th place overall.

Day Two saw the Southfuels Subaru start some 25 seconds in arrears for overall Rookie honours for this round and a fierce battle was about to heat up with the overnight leader Kingsley Thompson.

Kieran's positive "Never Give Up" attitude, along with his in-car confidence restored and the best Dunlop tyres fitted, they were digging deep and fighting hard.

The battle swung this way and that until the second to last stage when Hall finally bridged the gap and led by a very slender 2 seconds, and his sterling effort on the last stage saw him stretch his lead by a further 7 seconds to claim the Rookie win and finish the rally on the podium 3rd in the Group N 4WD class and 4th overall for the rally.

The team now regroup and focus on the task in hand, the pursuit of the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout that takes place in Australia in early September. Hall earned the right to attend this Asia-Pacific Region Shootout by qualifying as the second placed New Zealander under the age of 27 at the FIA Asia Pacific Rally of Whangarei earlier last month.

Team Hall Motorsport have commenced a fundraising effort to enable Kieran and Peter to attend this event. check out the website www.hallmotorsport.co.nz  for more details.

HEAPS OF HIGHS FOR HALL AT RALLY WHANGAREI

"Flying High at Rally Whangarei"   - Photo credit: Euan Cameron

Thursday 11th June

Young Nelson rally Driver Kieran Hall, in his Southfuels Subaru Impreza, made the most of his international rally debut with success in every category he contested at the FIA Asia Pacific Rally of Whangarei last weekend - June 6 - 7.

The 25 year old engineer, with fellow Nelsonian Peter Hart alongside, recorded an impressive list of achievements including 6th overall against the best drivers in the Asia Pacific region; his first ever podium finish - 3rd - in the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) round at only his third attempt; a second consecutive NZRC Round Win in the Rookie category; second again in the Rally Rising Stars International Award series and most important of all - becoming one of the two quailifiers from New Zealand for the Pirelli Star Driver Final Shootout at WRC Rally Australia in September.

"I felt quite a lot of pressure going into this rally with so many opportunities on offer," said a very happy Kieran, "so we decided to take a tactical approach - maintain a constant steady pace, keep out of trouble and not get drawn into the fight for any one particular award. That way the results would look after themselves, and that's exactly how it all panned out.

"It was a great feeling standing on the (NZRC) podium and then spraying the champagne. Its an awesome reward for all the team who worked faultlessly to get us there."

The Major prize Team Hall Motorsport went to Whangarei in search of was a place in the Pirelli Star Driver Final (PSD) which would see Kieran as one of the top two drivers under 27 years of age from New Zealand invited to contest the shootout of up to 14 young drivers at WRC Rally Australia in September. This shootout is to find the best driver from the Asia Pacific region who will win a fully funded drive in 6 World Rally Championship events next year - a prize that fellow kiwi driver Mark Tapper is currently enjoying this year.

"Qualifying for the PSD is fantastic and will generate international exposure for us, but it's something we didn't have in our original budget for this debut year in the NZRC."

"So it's going to require some good time management and juggling to keep our commitments to the New Zealand Rally Championship for our sponsors and supporters.

"Funding will also be a big issue, as our trip to Australia is only partially paid for by qualifying, so we have a lot of research and planning to do before we can be sure we actually take up the opportunity."

"But at least our performance (at Whangarei) means we have earned the right to be in Australia in September, so now it's up to us to make it a reality....

The Southfuels/Northfuels Subaru performed perfectly throughout the 16 high speed special stages and has moved Kieran up to 6th overall in the NZRC Goldstar Championship, while Back - to - Back Rookie Round Wins mean 2nd in that category which is the same place Kieran now holds at the halfway point in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars International Award Series.

The team's next event is the penultimte NZRC round - Rally Wairarapa on 18 - 19 July

 TEAM HALL MOTORSPORT BACK IN ROOKIE TITLE CHASE

Friday, 22 May 2009

The Nelson pairing of Kieran Hall & Peter Hart, in their Southfuels sponsored Subaru Impreza, are back in the race for the Rookie title after an all-the-way win in the second round of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) - Rally Otago last weekend - May 16 & 17

The 25 year old engineer drove with great maturity to steadily move clear of his nearest opposition and ultimately win the Rookie section by over three minutes, and therfore leapt up to 4th on the Rookie Points Table.

"We entered this rally seeking redemption for our misfortune and lack of points suffered at the first round at Hawke's Bay," said a delighted Kieran. "Its great to put all this behind us (at Otago) and grabbed the opportunity to show what we really can do."

The Southfuels Subaru performed fautlessly throughout the weekend and apart from an incident with a gate post on Day Two, that was overcome by some speedy work by the Hall Motorsport team once back at Service, the 14 special stages went very well and they were rewared with there best ever result at Otago of 8th overall and 6th in Group N 4WD from the 94 starters.

"Day two was the worst drama for the team when I slammed head on into a gate strainer post. Strangely enough it didn't move, so the car took the brunt and whilst backing up we caught a spike sitting in the grass that damaged a tyre."

"We had to finish the day so, as we were still mobile, we didn't stop and drove about 7 km on a very flat left front tyre and dragging the bumper.

"Fortunately the bumper popped back into shape, we changed the wheel and carried on. It was only a scratch really and nothing a bit of  'sticking plaster' didn't fix, so we were still able to finish Day 2 as we did Day 1."

'It is a huge relief to finally get points on the board so we can now push on with our goal of winning the Rookie Title for 2009.

'Hopefully we can repeat this result when we head to Whangarei in 2 weeks (June 6 and 7).

Kieran also nominated Otago as his opening round in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars International Award, which gives him a chance to quailify for a shootout competition in October to win a $50,000 support package, with professional tutoring and mentoring to participate in an overseas event.

Again the teams consistency paid off with a solid second place.

This series also continues at Whangarei along with the Pirelli Star Driver competition, which will see the winner of that Final, at WRC Rally Australia in September, spend 2010 driving in 6 rounds of the World Rally Championship.

So our trip to "The Winterless North" will be "Full On" and a real adventure and after such a good outcome at Otago, we can now go there confident of producing another top result in all these categories"

HALL READY TO PROVE HIS POTENTIAL AT RALLY OTAGO

Thursday 14th May 2009

The Nelson pairing of Kieran Hall & Peter Hart, in their Southfuels sponsored Subaru Impreza, are looking forward to whatever challenges they may face at the second round of the New Zealand Rally Championship ( NZRC) - Rally Otago this weekend - May 16 & 17.

They will be hoping for a clean run after suffering more than their fair share of bad luck at the opening round at Hawke's Bay six weeks' ago.

Their NZRC debut was embarked on with high hopes, but turned into a horror show on both days and has left them with a lot of ground to make up on their rivals in the Rookie Championship.

After starting the day with 6th fastest on the first stage, stage two saw them in trouble early with a very unusual exhaust manifold rupture that had even the most experienced mechanics at a loss to explain.

Unbelievable damage was sustained under the car and they were very lucky not to have a major fire on their hands.

A gutsy overnight effort by the crew, and with help from Richard Mason's BNT Mason Motorsport team, had the car ready to go again for day 2.

But this also turned out to be a day of frustration with hold ups at the ford (water crossing) in the first stage of the day, then dust after catching and passing a car in trouble, which led to the final straw, 2 flat tyres.

25 year old Kieran explains, "We obviously clipped something sharp in the grass verge when we passed (the stricken car) and punctured both the driver's side tyres. We are very unfortunate to be the first team to fall foul of the new One Spare Tyre Only rule, as we were forced to try and get back to service on our three remaining good Dunlops."

The team had no choice but to retire, but rejoined later in the day for valuable seat time and were rewarded for their efforts by posting the 3rd quickest time overall for the last stage of the rally.

Since suffering this bitter frustration and bad luck, the entire Hall Motorsport Team have spent a great deal of time planning their fightback in the Rookie Championship.

"We are more determined than ever to show what we can achieve when things go our way." said Kieran, "and we will also use Otago as our first nominated round in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars International Award series."

Things are already looking up as the Southfuels Subaru will start in a more favourable 8th on the road this weekend and with the experience and knowledge gained from previous visits to the high speed crests and brows for which Otago Rally is becoming world renowned, Kieran has high hopes of bettering his 2007 result of 11th overall and with it gaining a substantial points haul to get back in the race for the NZRC.