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Burnie’s Jason White is back on the top step of the podium after storming through the final day’s stages in his Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera Type R, to take the Modern victory in Targa Wrest Point, which finished in Hobart on Sunday.
The 1969 Datsun 2000 Sports of Hobart’s Geoff and Leon Duggan was victorious in the Classic competition, while another local driver, Tony Warren took out the Showroom category.
The southern pairing of Chris Long and Anne Gigney completed the Tasmanian quadrella, winning the Early Modern category in Porsche 993 Turbo.
White and co-driver, John White, started the day with a nine second deficit to Subaru driver Dean Herridge, but won all five stages on the final day to win by 24 seconds.
Despite engine problems with his Italian supercar that could have ended his hopes at any time, White made it through the stages to take his first victory on home soil since Targa Tasmania in 2005.
Under fine and sunny skies, the second running of Targa Wrest Point attracted over 150 cars, which wound their way through 12 competitive stages to the south of the state capital.
White’s Lamborghini was down to nine cylinders after spark plug and valve problems late on day one, but the self-employed fabricator managed to manhandle his car through day two’s stages with great skill.
“The event will go down as the most amazing thing that John and I have ever done in a car together,” White said. “We’re both really happy with each other’s performance.
“The first stage this morning we knew we were under pressure and the car was down on power, but there was a lot of fast downhill stuff in the stage and we just didn’t back off.
“Somehow the engine lasted, but I think it might only be a V8 now, not a V10.
“It’s been a long time since we won on home soil and not for lack of trying, but we’ve put a lot of work into it and it’s rewarding to have it all pay off.”
Herridge was hoping to maintain his overnight lead in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi, but ultimately the West Australian had to give way to the superior power of the Lamborghini and settle for second place.
Herridge, who has made his name winning at international level on gravel, was happy with his second place on tarmac.
“The weekend went as well as we could have hoped,” Herridge said.
“We pushed really hard, driving at Australian Rally Championship, World Rally Championship pace. We were totally committed to our notes and pushed flat out all the way.
“In the end we just couldn’t match the speed of the Lamborghini. Jason [White] drove it really well and they just had the edge.
“But we’ve come a long way since debuting this car last year and finishing fifth, so now we’ll just try and fine tune things for Targa Tasmania.”
Another West Australian, Steve Jones, was third in Modern in his Nissan GT-R on his Targa Wrest Point debut, 11 seconds clear of 2009 Targa Tasmania winner Tony Quinn.
Perennial favourite and eight-time Targa Tasmania winner, Jim Richards, driving a Porsche 911 GT2, was off the leading pace for much of the event and could only manage fifth place.
Brothers Geoff and Leon Duggan had a brilliant run in the Classic Overall competition to finish with over a three minute victory in their Datsun 2000 Sports.
They won the handicapped competition with a consistent drive that saw them finish ahead of Mick Cross and Leigh Chaplin in a Holden Torana XU1, with Chas and Luke Latter, in a 1967 Datsun 1600, third.
Duggan was rapt with the performance of his reliable Datsun classic
“Our car is fairly rigid and solid and doesn’t really like the rough roads, but overall I think the course for the event has been great,” he said.
“My brother, Leon, did a great job navigating and kept me on the straight and narrow, so we we’re rapt.”
Another piece of the Tasmanian puzzle on the top step of the podium belonged to Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX of Tony Warren, with Natasha Deniese calling the pacenotes.
After a thrilling battle with the TMR Evo X Club Spec of Tarmac magazine's Dean Evans and Simone Bachmann, Warren moved ahead towards the end of day two, with a final winning margin of 20 seconds, despite Evans winning more stages.
“It is just really pleasing to get to the finish line and win, after the disappointment of last year when we got so close but had an off right near the end,” Warren said.
“The car has been great this weekend. Now our focus is on Targa Tasmania. We really want to win that one and I reckon that we can.”
Evans wasn't too upset with second: "Surprisingly, we're very happy! I reckon our car was the most 'Showroom' in the entire field: it had satnav, heated leather seats, a 9-speaker sound system with a subwoofer, every bit of interior trim, even the MR's active headlights and a sunroof! To finish just 20 seconds off Tony fills us full of hope, as we'll have the time to pull all this stuff and more than 100kg out for next round."
Former Targa Tasmania Showroom champions, Scott Millar and Christopher Dean, were third in a Lancer Evo X, nearly two and a half minutes behind Warren.
Rounding out the dominant day for the locals, Long and Gigney were 31 seconds ahead of Adam Newton and Daniel Lemish in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 in the Early Modern tussle.
Modern – final results
1. Jason White/John White, 09 Lambo Gallardo Superleggera
2. Dean Herridge/Chris Murphy, 08 Subaru STi, +24s
3. Steve Jones/Ben Searcy, 08 Nissan GT-R, +1m12s
4. Tony Quinn/Naomi Tillett, 08 Nissan GT-R, +1m23s
5. Jim Richards/Barry Oliver, 08 Porsche 911 GT2, +2m49s
Classic Overall – final results
1. Geoff Duggan/Leon Duggan, 69 Datsun 2000 Sports
2. Mick Cross/Leigh Chaplin, 72 Holden Torana XU1, +3m22s
3. Chas Latter/Luke Latter, 67 Datsun 1600, +4m13s
4. David Cooper/Brad Sherriff, 77 Holden Torana A9X, +4m24s
5. Brian Dermott/Linda Dermott, 71 Holden Torana XU1, +4m34s
Showroom – final results
1. Tony Warren/Natasha Deniese, Mitsubishi Evo IX RS
2. Dean Evans/Simone Bachmann, TMR Club Spec Evo, +20s
3. Scott Millar/Christopher Dean, Mitsubishi Evo X RS, +2m28s
Early Modern (1982 – 2002) – final results
1. Chris Long/Anne Gigney, 96 Porsche 993 Turbo
2. Adam Newton / Daniel Lemish, 97 Mitsubishi Evo IV, +31s
3. Leigh Finlayson/Mike Stoneman, 00 Mitsubishi Evo VI, +2m08s
Classic – final results
1. Peter Eames/Will Logan, 74 Porsche 911 Carrera RS
3. Bill Pye/John Lenne, 74 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, +26s
1. John Ireland/Michael Ribot, 77 Porsche 911 Carrera 3, +3m:07s
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