Steve Glenney has retained the lead of the 2019 Targa Tasmania but seven-time winners Jason and John White are virtually out of the hunt after just two days.

The Whites were slapped with a 10-minute penalty as punishment for arriving late to the lunch stop after a sensor wire melted under the bonnet of their Dodge Viper.

Jason White says that they will now shift their focus to winning the Australian Targa Championship, having plummeted from second to 87th outright.

“It was some melted wire on a crank angle sensor, so it lost its signal and stopped,” he explained.

“It’s fixed now, but we’ve lost a heap of time. If we take 10 minutes away from our time last year, it would put us about seventh so it’s more about the championship now for us.”

Glenney and co-driver Dennis Sims (Lotus Exige) now lead by 24 seconds from Matt Close and Cameron Reeves (Porsche GT3 RS).

Michael Pritchard and Gary Mourant (Porsche GT3 RS) are a further 30 seconds back in third outright.

Paul Stokell/ Kate Catford (Lotus Exige) and Eddie McGuire/Michael Potter (Dodge Viper) round out the top five.