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JASON WHITE - LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO - 2012 TARGA TASMANIA

Lamborghini Gallardo driver Jason White remains the man to beat in Australia's Targa Tasmania after stretching his lead to 48 seconds over defending champion, Tony Quinn, during the second day loop out to St Helens and back to Launceston.

Victorian Rex Broadbent leads Classic Outright by 18 seconds in his ultra-reliable 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS from Queenslander, Jon Siddins, in his 1970 Datsun 240Z. The two have cleared out on Donn Todd, who is third but over two and half minutes slower in his 1971 Ford Capri Perana.

White started the day with a 13 second buffer, and despite winning only three of the day’s eight stages, White managed to move well ahead of Quinn’s Nissan GT-R. On the famous Sidling stage from Scotsdale, run in the reverse direction to normal and in atrocious conditions, White blitzed the field by 17 seconds and took 23 seconds from Quinn.

The big mover on the day was Matt Close, who set the fastest time on four stages to move his Audi TT RS from overnight sixth to third place, exactly one minute behind White. His ascent was helped by the demise of Dean Herridge, who was fourth quickest on the opening day, but his Subaru WRX STI’s engine failed on the first stage, Rossarden, forcing him to retire.

Brendan Reeves remains in the mix but has slipped back to fourth place, one minute 56 seconds behind White. His Mazda RX-8 SP could not match the outright speed of his European rivals, but the 23-year-old is still well placed with another 435 competitive kilometres to come over the final three days.

White made his move on the Sideling in light rains and heavy fog. “We had a pretty good run up through the Sideling, but it was the most atrocious conditions that I've ever driven in the entire time I've been tarmac rallying,” White said. “They were the slipperiest of roads, and there was zero visibility up over the top of the mountain. “It was a brand new challenge with the east coast being completely reversed, and it showed up where a few people have done a little bit more homework than others. We are in front, which is a good thing, but it's by no means a place to feel comfortable. But we're quietly confident with the car and everything feels good in that respect, which is a relief.”

Close believes if the rain continues he can put further pressure on the leaders. “We've had a good day in the wet and the car's doing what I want," Close said. “It was foggy and slippery through the Sideling and we had planned to go a bit quicker, but we ended up just consolidating the day, because now we know we've got a great package in the wet, and that will probably resonate with the two guys ahead of us.”

Broadbent has achieved his buffer in the Classic competition with a no-risk approach. "Our day has been pretty good," he said. "It was weird because it was we, but it seemed grippy, and then all of a sudden it wasn't anymore and that made it quite exciting. I'm still fairly confident in our notes, but not confident in where I'm going to finish. We're going as quick as we can, but whether it's quick enough or not is the question."

Simon Evans continues to dominate the Showroom class in his Mazda3 MPS, now leading by one minute 20 seconds from the Renault of Gavin James. Jamie Vandenberg, driving a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, has taken over the 4WD Showroom lead, while overnight Early Modern leader, Tony Warren, crashed out of the competition, leaving Steve Spada as the man to catch in that category.

In the handicap competitions, Broadbent is the Late Classic leader and Siddins leads Early Classic, while Drew and Ella Kent are in front of the new Classic Florio competition. Wayne Clark and Trevor Berriman have a two minute 40 second break in the Vintage Rallye in their 1938 Dodge Speedster Special. The Rookie Rallye has been run and won, with Peter Wrench and Liam Dunn taking the modern honours and Adam and Hayley Kudra the leading Classic competitors.

RDA Brakes Modern after Day 2
1. Jason White / John White, 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo, 8m36s
2. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett, 2009 Nissan GTR, +48s
3. Matt Close / Casey Close, 2010 Audi TT RS, +1m00s
4. Brendan Reeves / Rhianon Smyth, 2010 Mazda RX8 SP, +1m56s
5. Matt Sims / Dennis Sims, 2009 Nissan GTR, +2m06s
6. Jim Richards / Barry Oliver, 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, +2m55s
7. Peter Rullo / Simon Iseppi, 2008 Nissan GTR, +2m57s
8 Lynn Rattray / Tony Jackson, 2008 Subaru WRX STI, +4m11s
9. Brendan Manion / Travis Dean, 2010 Subaru WRX STI, +5m09s
10. Frank Purdey / Cameron Reeves, 2009 Nissan GTR, +5m24s

Shannons Classic Outright after Day 2
1. Rex Broadbent / Chris Randell, 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, 12m32s
2. Jon Siddins / Darren Ferguson, 1970 Datsun 240Z, +18s
3. Donn Todd / Dean Tighe, 1971 Ford Capri Perana, +2m47s
4. Colin Byrne / Paul Stoopman, 1971 Alfa Remeo GTV 1000, +5m15s
5. Matthew Cardinaels / Damien Thomlinson, 1972 Datsun 240Z, +5m25s

Country Club Tasmania Showroom after Day 2
1. Simon Evans / Sue Evans, 2009 Mazda3 MPS, 12m56s
2. Gavin James / Tim Kulhanek, 2011 Renault Megane RS 250, +1m20s
3. Adam Dodd / Lee Challoner-Miles, 2006 Mazda MX5, +5m43s
3. Adam Spence / Tracey Button, 2007 BMW 130i, +5m43s
5. Andrew McKay / Hartley Sutcliffe, 2006 Mazda MX5, +9m43s

Pure Tasmania Early Modern after Day 2
1. Steve Spada / Jessica Nicholson, 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, 13m17s
2. Jeff Beable / Nerida Beable, 2000 Nissan Skyline GTR, +25s
3. Tim Hendy / Joanne Sibley, 1999 Nissan Skyline GTR, +53s
4. Ben Manion / Damien Roach, 1990 Nissan Skyline GTS-T, +1m41s
5. Danny Stutterd / Richard Scoular, 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, +1m58s

Shannons Early Classic Handicap after Day 2
1. Jon Siddins / Darren Ferguson, 1970 Datsun 240Z, 9m09s
2. Andrew White / Ashley Yelds, 1961 Volvo 122S, +42s
3. Colin Byrne / Paul Stoopman, 1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 1000, +54s
4. Ross Steuart / Jill Steuart, 1962 Ford Anglia 105E, +3m49s
5. Donn Todd / Dean Tighe, 1971 Ford Capri Perana, +5m22s

Shannons Late Classic Handicap after Day 2
1. Rex Broadbent / Chris Randell, 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, 11m56s
2. Robert Gambino / Paul HIbberd, 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB, +34s
3. Ian Morris / Alex Molocznyk, 1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6, +38s
4. Matthew Cardinaels / Damien Thomlinson, 1972 Datsun 240Z, +2m37s
5. John Ireland / Michael Ribot, 1977 Porsche 911 Carrera 3, +3m10s

TMR Performance 4WD Showroom after Day 2
1. Jamie Vandenberg / Eddie Maguire, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, 10m48s
2. Dean Evans / Matthew Harriott, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +21s
3. Scott Millar / Christopher Dean, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +3m34s
4. Ben Newman / Crichton Lewis, 2010 Subaru WRX STI, +6m10s
5. John O'Dowd / John McCarthy, Subaru WRX STI, +6m59s

Shannons Vintage Rallye after Day 2
1. Wayne Clark / Roger Richardson, 1938 Dodge Speedster Special, 19m27s
2. Martin Wilson / Richard Wilson, 1934 Jaguar SS Special, +2m40s
3. Bill Griffiths / Peter Roberts, 1936 Roesch Talbot BG, +6m12s

Shannons Classic Florio Handicap after Day 2
1. Drew Kent / Ella Kent, 1971 Ford Falcon GT, 16m55s
2. Mac Russell / Marjorie Russell, 1976 Morgan Plus 8, +5m10s
3. Tim Bresnahan / Jason Bresnahan, 1985 Porsche 944, +6m05s

Targa Tasmania Regularity after Day 2
1. Phillip Frith / David Frith, 2010 Porsche Boxter S, 88 points
2. Bill Gill / Kathy Gill, 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera, +6 points
3. Peter Pisko / Lily Pisko, 2003 Nissan 350Z, +15 points

Rookie Rallye Classic - Final
1. Adam Kudra / Hayley Kudra, 1984 Ford Falcon, 21m28s
2. Luke How / Sarah Williams, 1983 BMW 325i, +56s
3. Karen Cariss / Kevin Poncelet, 1973 Ford Escort, +4m36s

Rookie Rallye Modern - Final
1. Peter Wrench / Robert Vickery, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, 16m40s
2. Scott Strong / Nathan Walker, 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, +1m31s
3. Igor Van Gerwen / Anthony Brandsema, 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four, +6m01s

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