The favourites continued to pull
away from their rivals yesterday as Targa Tasmania action played
out in testing conditions in the north west region of the
Australian state
on the penultimate day of the five-day motoring enduro.
In the modern competition Jason White, in his
Lamborghini Gallardo, remains the man to catch with just
one day to go, and yesterday he built on his overnight lead across the
monster 165 competitive kilometers that took the field
from Strahan to Ulverstone and back.
On the morning stages White conceded a little time to
Tony Quinn’s Nissan GT-R and Matt Close’s Audi TT RS.
But by yesterday afternoon, White was back setting the pace,
extending his lead out to two minutes 15 seconds from
Quinn, while Close’s hope of Targa glory ended when he
crashed out of the event on the long Rianna stage.
The 23 year-old Brendan Reeves, driving the factory
Mazda RX-8 SP, now sits in third place over four minutes
clear of eight-time Targa winner, Jim Richards, in his
Porsche GT2 RS.
In Classic Outright, the old master in his 1974 Porsche
911, Rex Broadbent, was out having another field day.
While Jon Siddins won two stages before lunch in his
1970 Datsun 240Z, Broadbent was enjoying trouble free
motoring. He has an two minute 34 seconds lead and his
sights set on a sixth straight class victory this
afternoon.
Simon Evans in Showroom had also seen his major
opposition crash out, with Gavin James ending his run in
the Renault on the Mt Roland stage. The Mazda3 MPS
driver looks to also have victory within his grasp. Even
with 135 kilometres remaining on the run to the finish
line at Hobart’s Wrest Point today, his victory
looks assured with a 19-minute buffer.
Weather and road conditions again challenged the field
on the longest day in Targa history, but White was able
to thrive where many struggled.
“Our day's been great, no worries whatsoever," he said
at the end of yesterday's penultimate day. "We took it
a bit easy in the fog over Mt Roland, but apart from
that we've been pushing on well, so we're really happy
with the result so far. It all feels good and nothing seems to be giving us any
worries with the car, so fingers crossed.
“It's unfortunate that Matt (Close) crashed as he was
only five seconds off taking second place from Tony
Quinn, but he just got caught out with a road surface
change,” White added.
“They're okay, but the car's not real good though, but
it's a testament to all the safety devices that we run
in the cars.”
Burnie driver, Jamie Vandenberg, in a Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo IX, holds a commanding two minute buffer in Showroom
4WD while Jeff Beable’s 2000 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec
N1 is out in front by three minutes 14 seconds in Early
Modern.
In the handicap classes, Jon Siddins leads Early Classic
and Broadbent is the man to beat in Late Classic as
well.
The winners are expected at the finish line of the 2012
Targa Tasmania at Wrest Point around 4pm this afternoon.
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