Hot favourite in hot water

After losing his early lead to Nissan GT-R driver Tony Quinn on Leg One, local hero and two-time Targa Tasmania winner Jason White was slugged with a 20-minute penalty for arriving late for Leg Two into a time control.

White hit a rock on stage one, puncturing a tyre and damaging the aero-sensitive underbody of his Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. White was able to change the tyre and make repairs but he was too late to the start of the next stage and officials had no choice but to penalise him.

Twenty minutes will be almost impossible to make up but White is expected to continue. Back-to-back victories, however, are now unlikely for the Tasmanian.

"We had to straddle a great big boulder in The Sideling, and rather than tear a wheel off the car it's managed to roll its way down the car and punctured everything from oil coolers to oil pipes and even the bottom of the engine," White said, dejectedly.

"That's about the end of us, unfortunately."

Quinn, who now has an outright lead of 90 seconds, isn't getting ready to celebrate his second win in three years just yet.

"I'm totally casual about today. We do our best and whatever happens, happens," he said.

"We've been pressing on and our intention is to press on more tomorrow and try and just get a comfortable gap. If it rains on Saturday and Sunday then a few of the boys with medium compound tyres might be a bit quicker."

Second outright now is Matt Close in an Audi TT RS with Matthew Sims (Nissan GT-R) third.

Touring car veteran Andrew Miedecke (Ford Capri Perana) took the lead in Classic Outright from Launceston's great hope, David Cooper (Torana A9X). Even unhappier than Cooper was German rally god, Walter Rorhl, whose Porsche 911 SC broke a driveshaft, forcing him to retire the car.

The Showroom competition was again dominated by Mazda3 MPS driver Brendan Reeves, who normally rallies a Ford Fiesta in the World Rally Championship Academy Series. Reeves leads the Skoda Octavia RS of motoring journalist Mike Sinclair.

Targa Tasmania 2011 stage category winners:
Late Classic Handicap: Duane Rodgers -- 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera
Early Classic Handicap: Paul Freestone -- 1948 Holden
Early Modern: Blaise Paris -- 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
4WD Showroom: Tony Warren -- 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX

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