MOTORSPORT: Whites win seventh Targa Tasmania

Tasmanians Jason and John White are now just one win behind the legendary Jim Richards and Barry Oliver in Targa Tasmania, having withstood ailing tyres to notch a stunning seventh victory in the island state’s tarmac rally.

Driving a 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme, the Whites (competing for the 21st time in the 27-year history of the event) had set the pace all week in the six-day, 33-stage event.

They won by 1min 5sec from Steve Glenney and Andy Sarandis in a 2015 Subaru WRX STI and also took victory in the GT2 class.

Glenney and Sarandis claimed honours in the GT4 class and now lead the modern section of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship.

Five different manufacturers were represented in the top five outright placings of Targa Tasmania.

Hobart doctor Michael Pritchard and co-driver Gary Mourant finished third outright and second in GT2 in their Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2min 30sec behind the Whites.

It was the second successive podium in the event for Pritchard and Mourant.

Paul Stokell and Erin Kelly were fourth in a Lotus Exige S with Angus Kennard and Ian Wheeler fifth in a Nissan GT-R.

Michael and Daniel Bray scored a big class win in the Classic GT class in a 1975 Holden Torana, almost 9min clear of Mark Hammond and Dennis Neagles in a 1980 Jaguar XJS. The Brays lead the Classic Australian Targa Championship.

The only car with a realistic chance of reeling in the Whites on the final day, the Porsche GT3 RS of Matt Close and Cameron Reeves, speared off the road half a kilometre into the first of six stages near Hobart.

The Whites then backed off, nursing the Viper’s tyres.

Close accepted blame for the Porsche’s off.

“Unfortunately on cold tyres I just asked a bit too much of them,” he said. “But we are proud, because we took it up to him [White] and I don’t think he’s had that sort of pressure for a long time.”

White praised Close and said the week had been the hardest he had had to drive in any Targa Tasmania.

“We were actually having a lot more sweat about what was going on with the tyres – it really forced John and I to be at the top of our game,” White said.

“But it wasn’t so good to see Matt go off.

“We’ve had to manage a few issues with the chassis as well as the tyres ourselves through the week. One of the things about this event is managing your head and not panicking.

“A lot of the stages where we took big chunks of time out we were really out of our comfort zone. It was really nice to up the ante and discover a new level.”

In other classes, Graham Copeland and Josh Herbert guided the 1941 GMC Jimmy Special to victory in Classic Handicap with almost seven minutes to spare over the 1961 Volvo 122S of Ashley Yelds and Charlie Hughes.

In the Early Modern category Josh Sutcliffe and Jon Mitchell (2006 Subaru) claimed victory after an event-long tussle with the 1995 Nissan Skyline of Liam and Larry Howarth.

Darryl and Peter Marshall secured another TSD Trophy – the second straight – in their Ford Falcon Pursuit Ute after compiling 55 penalty points, 38 fewer than the Peter and Tristan Taylor Lotus Exige.

Jack Waldron and Vin Gregory were big winners in the Thoroughbred Trophy in their 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma, while Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams took the spoils in GT Sports Trophy in their 2013 Lotus Exige S.

Justin Gan and David Hart made a one-act affair of the Rookie Classic GT in their 1978 Porsche 911 while Adam Gosling and Ian Noble scored a big win in Rookie Early Modern in their 2002 BMW E46 M3.

Jeff Morton and Steve Fisher in a 2017 Lotus Exige easily topped the Rookie GT standings, victorious by more than 13 minutes.

The new Targa Great Barrier Reef in Cairns from August 31 to September 2 will be the third round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship.