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After six
gruelling days of competition, local driver Jason White
has triumphed in the modern section to add a second
Targa Tasmania title to his collection. Driving his new
Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo "Strada", White and his
co-driving uncle, John White, led from start to finish
to claim a 63 second win ahead of Queenslander Ray
Vandersee in a Skelta G-Force, with Tony Quinn third in
a Nissan GT-R two minutes 30 seconds further back.
The Classic Outright competition was won convincingly by
Victorian, Rex Broadbent, who produced a near faultless
drive in a 1974 Porsche 911 RS. Melbourne driver, Paul
Batten, secured the Classic Handicap title with a superb
performance in his 1961 Volvo PV544 across the 504
competitive kilometres.
Tasmanian Tony Warren was the dominant force in the
Showroom competition droving his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
IX to a one minute and 45 second victory – his second in
three years. Second place went to the Mazda3 MPS of
Brendan Reeves, with Dean Evans third in a Lancer Evo X,
nine seconds further back.
After previously winning Targa Tasmania in 2005 in a
Nissan GT-R, Jason White’s victory comes after many
years of trying in the Italian supercar. Recent changes
to the Lamborghini’s specification have made the car
faster than ever, and he was untouchable over the course
of the event.
“When John announced a month ago that we were going to
change the car to the new model, I had mixed emotions
about it all,” White said. “We were all pretty excited
about it, but I was quite scared knowing the amount of
work and man hours that would be needed. We were
delighted just to get it to the start line, but I was
shaking in my boots knowing that I hadn’t seen any these
roads since last year.
“To get it this far has been extremely satisfying. To be
involved in building the car and then to have a result
like this is amazing," he continued. “We’ve got our name
on the trophy twice now, but others have got it there
eight times, so we’re not going to rest at this. There’s
a record out there that we’d like to chase after.”
Broadbent was rarely challenged as he charged to
back-to-back Classic wins. Despite only entering the
event at the eleventh-hour, his Porsche 911 never missed
a beat to take a clear victory. “It’s been survival of
the fittest, but I’m still pretty happy and have enjoyed
it enormously,” Broadbent commented. “My co-driver and
good friend, Chris (Randell), has been totally
professional and didn’t put a foot wrong, and it makes a
big difference to the driver. I’ve always said that
navigators are 80 per cent of the team, but I reckon it
might event by 85 per cent this time.”
Tony Warren led from the start in the Showroom
competition. His blistering speed early in the event had
his rivals expecting the Lancer Evo IX to run out of
tyres, but a polished drive over the final days ensured
he took the step to the top of the podium. “It’s a great
feeling to not only win the Showroom competition, but to
take out the Australian Tarmac Championship as well,
which was my main goal,” Warren said. “Today we pushed
harder than we thought we would to maintain our lead,
but the car was superb and Natasha’s (Deniese)
navigating was fantastic. We didn’t miss a beat, so it’s
been great. This car is prepared in my workshop by my
mate Gary Cox and I, and his preparation has been
magnificent.”
Victorian Andrew Richmond won the Early Modern in his
Nissan Skyline GT-R, while Tasmanian Wayne Clark’s 1938
Dodge Speedster Special completed the course to win the
Vintage category.
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