Jason and John White have overcome final day electrical gremlins to claim their third Targa Tasmania title today (2005, 2010, 2012)—their second at the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo.
The Whites started the day losing ground to Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R) in the morning’s opening two stages and saw almost half of their 2 minute 25 second advantage disappear.
Some quick repairs to the Lambo’s electrics before the epic Mt Arrowsmith stage soon had the Whites back on the charge. Sensing a need to respond Jason White put in an astonishing drive to ‘clean’ the 58.55km Mt Arrowsmith stage, the longest in the rally, and regain virtually all of the time lost.
In the end they went on to win by a relatively comfortable 2 minutes 27 seconds from Quinn. Targa legend Jim Richards (Porsche 911 GT2 RS) snuck into third place after mechanical dramas ended Brendan Reeves’ (Mazda RX8-SP) podium hopes.
You’ll recall the White’s blew an engine, with only 120km on the clock, during the media day immediately before Targa Tasmania began, so today’s win will go some way to ease the financial pain felt after fitting a new motor.
For the sixth year in a row Rex Broadbent (1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS) won the Classic outright category. Although a spin on Mt Arrowmsith would have caused him a few moments of concern. Jon Siddons (1970 Datsun 240Z) finished just over 1 minute behind. John Ireland (1977 Porsche 911 Carrera) came home in third, a long way behind the leading pair.
Simon Evans (Mazda3 MPS) won the 2WD Showroom category, while local Jamie Vandenburg (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) won the 4WD class.
For access to final Targa Tasmania results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012