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WHITE EXTENDS LEAD ON DAY THREE OF TARGA TASMANIA

Jason and John White increased their Targa Tasmania lead on Day 3 - Photo: Angryman Photography

By Bruce Williams

Jason and John White increased their Targa Tasmania lead on Day 3 - Photo: Angryman Photography

Jason and John White increased their Targa Tasmania lead on Day 3 – Photo: Angryman Photography

Five-time winner Jason White has showed his class on day three of Targa Tasmania, extending his overall lead to 60 seconds in his Dodge Viper ACR Extreme.

On the third anniversary of his father, Dennis, passing away, White was determined to push hard and increase his lead.

On roads he knows well on the run from Launceston to Burnie, the Devonport driver put the foot down and never looked seriously threatened.

2016 champion Matt Close has moved into second place in his new Porsche GT3, moving 42 seconds ahead of Michael Pritchard’s Dodge Viper, who lost time on the dry roads.

Jon Siddins has once again driven superbly in his 1970 Datsun 240Z, upstaging dozens of newer and more powerful cars. He was fourth overall until the final stage of the day, but dropped time and slipped to seventh place.

The Porsche GT4 of Tim Hendy took over fourth place, ahead of the nimble Lotus Exige of racing veteran Paul Stokell.

Day three was the longest of the event and saw crews tackling seven Targa stages covering 133.48 competitive kilometres, with the Cethana and Riana stages the longest at 38km and 36km respectively.
Despite suffering a broken differential on the George Town stage yesterday, Jason White’s repaired Dodge Viper was in a class of its own, and he and co-driver John White now look well on track for a sixth Targa Tasmania victory.

Matt Close pushed him hard, but White maintained his advantage.

“Today was a bit harder on tyre wear than we really wanted, but we figured we had to push on to stay in touch,” White said.

“Up until this morning there were no signs of wear on the tyres whatsoever, but the longer stages today have been harder on the tyres.

“We just wanted to hold position today, but I think we’ve managed to gain a bit of time here and there. Today’s been a really good day,” he added.

Ben Manion started the day leading the GT4 competition in his Subaru, but a punctured tyre on the long Cethana stage early in the afternoon gave the lead to Angus Kennard in a Nissan GTR.

While Manion dropped over nine minutes behind the leaders, Kennard took an advantage of nearly two and a half minutes over Josh Hilton’s similar Nissan.

“We’ve had a really good run today – it’s been dry and fast, and nice and cold as well, so the car’s been going really well,” Kennard explained.

“The pace notes have been really good and I’m getting a bit more confident around braking and working over the bumps.”

The Classic GT competition was once again dominated by Jon and Gina Siddins in their Datsun 240Z, and they now lead by a minute and 36 seconds from Mick Downey (Holden Torana) and former winner Craig Haysman (Triumph TR7 V8).

“I’m amazed we’re going as well as we are,” Siddins said.

“The tyres today have been excellent – there’s plenty of grip in the Dunlops and the engine is great, so we’ve got a really good package.”

Peter and Sari Ullrich have put their stamp on the Shannons Classic handicap competition and hold a commanding four minute and 25 second lead in their 1963 Jensen CV8. The battle for second is much closer between Richard Woodward’s 1969 Holden Monaro GTS and David Gilliver’s 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS.

Other competition leaders are Adam Kaplan (2004 BMW M3 CSL) in Duttons Garage Early Modern, Jeff Morton (2017 Lotus Exige) in Country Club GT Sports Trophy, and Darryl Marshall (2002 Ford Falcon Ute) in the speed limited TSD Trophy class.

On day four, Targa Tasmania leaves Burnie and heads down the west coast to Strahan via a further seven stages, including the challenging run through the Hellyer Gorge.

2017 Targa Tasmania, provisional results after Day 3

OVERALL
1. Jason White / John White, 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme
2. Matt Close / Cameron Reeves, 2015 Porsche GT3, +1m00s
3. Michael Pritchard / Gary Mourant, 2016 Dodge Viper ACR, +1m42s
4. Tim Hendy / Julie Winton-Monet, 2016 Porsche GT4, +4m43s
5. Paul Stokell / Jenny Cole, Lotus Exige, +4m46s
6. Angus Kennard / Ian Wheeler, 2015 Nissan GTR, +4m48s
7. Jon Siddins / Gina Siddins, 1970 Datsun 240Z, +4m56s
8. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett, Porsche GT3, +5m13s
9. Craig Dean / Kate Catford, 2015 Ford Mustang Shelby GT, +5m16s
10.Adam Kaplan/Aleshia Penney, 2004 BMW M3 CSL, +5m28s

WREST POINT GT2
1. Jason White / John White, 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme
2. Matt Close / Cameron Reeves, 2015 Porsche GT3, +1m00s
3. Michael Pritchard / Gary Mourant, 2016 Dodge Viper ACR, +1m42s

RDA BRAKES GT4
1. Angus Kennard / Ian Wheeler, 2015 Nissan GTR
2. Joshua Hilton / Rodney Vanderpoel, 2016 Nissan GTR R35, +2m26s
3. Crichton Lewis / Adam Kudra, 2010 Subaru Sti, +3m24s

SHANNONS CLASSIC
1. Peter Ullrich / Sari Ullrich, 1963 Jensen CV8
2. Richard Woodward / Neil Gibson, 1969 Holden Monaro GTS, +4m25
3. David Gilliver / Nigel Shellshear, 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS, +5m21s

SHANNONS CLASSIC GT
1. Jon Siddins / Gina Siddins, 1970 Datsun 240Z,
2. Mick Downey / Jarrod Van Den Akker, 1977 Holden Torana, +1m36s
3. Craig Haysman / Julie Boorman, 1979 Triumph TR7 V8, +3m28s

DUTTONS GARAGE EARLY MODERN
1. Adam Kaplan / Aleshia Penney, 2004 BMW M3 CSL
2. Jon Mitchell / Joshua Sutclife, 2006 Subaru S204, +1m28s
3. Guy Lilleyman / John Lilleyman, 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, +4m41s

COUNTRY CLUB GT SPORTS TROPHY
1. Jeff Morton / Dennis Neagle, 2017 Lotus Exige,
2. Richard Woodman / Marcus Towle, 2004 Subaru WRX, +3m57s
3. Jeff Beable / Nerida Beable, 2000 Nissan Skyline, +4m48s

TSD TROPHY
1. Darryl Marshall / Peter Marshall, 2002 Ford Falcon Ute Pursuit 250, 31 points
2. Christopher Waldock / Christine Kirby, 2016 Jaguar F-Type SVR AWD, 65 points
3. Peter Lucas / Angela Coradine, 1984 Porsche Carrera, 117 points

Follow the links to catch up with Day 1 and Day 2 of Targa Tasmania.