Jason White wins Targa Tasmania 2017

The Tasmanian pairing of Jason and John White have secured their sixth win at Targa Tasmania driving a Dodge Viper ACR Extreme.

After six hard-fought days of competition and 35 competitive stages, the successful nephew-uncle duo took victory by just 34 seconds over the similar car of Michael Pritchard and Gary Mourant, with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS of last year's GT2 winners Matt Close and Cameron Reeves a further 42 seconds back in third.

Paul Stokell and Jenny Cole secured fourth place in a Lotus Exige, 7min54sec behind the winners, while Tony Quinn and Naomi Tillett in a Porsche 911 GT3 rounded out the top five a further 49sec back.

The Whites' attempt at victory in 2016 ended in heartbreak with the Viper's 8.4-litre V10 exploding on the second-last day, handing a deserving Close and Reeves their first Targa victory.

It’s the first victory for the Viper and fittingly comes as production of the iconic American muscle car is about to cease. The Dodge has proved and unlikely but potent performer at Targa, with the Whites’ previous successes coming in a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and Nissan R34 GT-R N1.

Other noteworthy drives in the top 10 came from Jon and Gina Siddins, who won the Classic GT class and secured an incredible ninth outright in their 1970 Datsun 240Z, with Early Modern winners Adam Kaplan and Aleshia Penney one spot behind in 10th outright in a BMW M3 CSL.

Putting in arguably the drive of the rally was the 2016 GT4 and outright winner Steve Glenney, this year accompanied by Michael Potter, in a 2008 Subaru WRX STi. Mechanical problems on day one put paid to Glenney’s chance of an outright result, however he was consistently the fastest car outright.

Targa Tasmania bills itself as the ultimate tarmac rally, traversing every corner of the southern state’s incredible road network, with rule changes for 2016 ensuring only virtually standard production cars could once again compete for the title.

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