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After another dramatic day on Tasmania’s roads it now appears as though the 2011 Targa Tasmania title is Tony Quinn’s to lose. At the wheel of his Nissan GT-R, the 2009 Targa winner has extended his lead in the modern outright category to over two minutes.

The Audi TT RS of Matt Close remains in second place, while Matthew Sims in a Nissan GT-R has held on to his third place. More fancied competitors such as Steve Glenney (Mazda RX8 SP) and Kevin Weeks (Lamborghini Gallardo) suffered accident and mechanical problems that put them out of the race.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the Porsche 911 SC of Walter Röhrl at the Silverdome this morning and he rejoined the action with a 20 minute time penalty following yesterday’s issues.

Andrew Miedecke (Ford Perana) is leading classic outright by 53 seconds. Brendan Reeves continues his stranglehold on the 2WD showroom category enjoying a lead of more than five minutes.

It was a better day for AUSmotive’s team leader Andrew Robinson too. While the MINI John Cooper Works is still failing to make boost Robbo was able to negotiate an otherwise trouble-free day. Importantly, all times were met to maintain eligibility for Targa plates and that now remains the goal for the next two days.

Televsion highlights from Southern Cross TV can be seen after the break. This includes footage the Alfa Romeo GTV accident shown above.

Targa Tasmania claimed some big scalps today, enabling Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R) to extend his lead in the Modern outright category to healthy 1 minute 32 seconds. Quinn’s closest rivals, Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo) and  Steve Glenney (Mazda RX8 SP), both suffered dramas today and sit outside of the top 10.

Matt Close (Audi TT RS) now sits in second place, with Matthew Sims (Nissan GT-R) in third a further one second behind.

Unfortunately for rally organisers, international drawcard Walter Röhrl was forced to retire from the event today after his Porsche 911 SC succumbed to mechanical gremlins.

Meanwhile, AUSmotive’s fortunes also took a dive with Andrew Robinson’s MINI John Cooper Works having boost issues for the latter part of the day. During our afternoon service checks we also discovered some suspension damage that needed urgent attention. The car is ready to race again tomorrow, but the boost problem was not resolved and the MINI will be running more like a standard Cooper.

Televsion highlights from Southern Cross TV can be seen after the break.

Tony Quinn leads Targa Tasmania after Day 1 of the island rally. Negotiating his Nissan GT-R successfully through the opening day the 2009 Targa Tasmania winner holds a narrow three second lead in the modern outright category. In second place is yesterday’s Prologue winner Jason White. Sitting nicely in third, 27 seconds behind the leader, is 2008 Targa champion Steve Glenney in his Mazda RX8 SP.

Brendan Reeves, driving a Mazda 3 MPS, leads the 2WD showroom category by a comfortable 65 seconds from Mike Sinclair, who is at the wheel of a Skoda Ovtavia RS wagon.

In classic outright a Torana A9X driven by David Cooper is 12 seconds in front of Andrew Miedecke, who is at the wheel of a Ford Perana. Two-time world rally champion Walter Röhrl sits in equal fifth place just over one minute behind Cooper.

Closer to AUSmotive’s immediate interests, Andrew Robinson is leading his class (9MSB) in his MINI John Cooper Works and sits in sixth in category. He had a good day overall, with just a minor off causing damage to the front-left rim. With a spare wheel fitted “Robbo” is now all set for a big Day 2 in Tasmania’s north east.

Televsion highlights from Southern Cross TV can be seen after the break.