Jason’s and John White’s lead has been cut to 27 seconds ahead of the final day of the 2018 Targa Tasmania.
Matt Close and Cameron Reeves in their Porsche 911 GT3 managed to take 10 seconds out of the defending champions’ lead, including eight seconds on the 8.70km Tarraleah stage alone.
The Whites, however, need only survive another 66.34km of competitive running south of Hobart in order to win Targa Tasmania for the seventh time.
Close had been left frustrated having not made more inroads on the Whites’ lead.
“It was disappointing on the Strahan stage (TS22) to find out that even though we were nine seconds faster than Jason, he cleaned the stage so it all means nothing,” said Close.
“He only just cleaned it and we cleaned it by 10 seconds. So it’s bloody disappointing to be honest.
“If we are a chance to win we need to concentrate on what we are doing and stop worry about what Jason is doing.
“We just need to hit every stage as hard as we can and just keep it on the road and keep the pressure on.”
Despite expressing concern about tyre life all week, Jason White believes that he is in a strong position to see out the rally.
“We lost a bit of time trying to look after our tyres. But they are okay and we’ve got enough rubber to make it through,” he explained.
The rally comes to a close on Saturday.
Overall classification: After Day 5
| Pos | Driver/Co-driver | Car | Split |
| 1 | Jason White/John White | 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme | |
| 2 | Matt Close/Cameron Reeves | 2017 Porsche GT3 RS | +0:00:27 |
| 3 | Steve Glenney/ Andy Sarandis | 2015 Subaru WRX STI | +0:02:47 |
| 4 | Michael Pritchard/Gary Mourant | Porsche 911 GT3 RS | +0:04:15 |
| 5 | Paul Stokell/Erin Kelly | 2014 Lotus Exige S | +0:04:44 |
| 6 | Angus Kennard/Ian Wheeler | 2015 Nissan GT-R R35 | +0:05:33 |
| 7 | John Ireland/Janet Binns | 2017 Dodge Viper | +0:08:35 |
| 8 | Craig Dean/Mary Hughes | 2015 Ford Mustang | +0:10:01 |
| 9 | Alan Roe/Michael Lloyd | BMW M2 | +0:10:15 |
| 10 | Peter Nunn/Keith Johnstone | 2016 Porsche GTS | +0:10:24 |
Class leaders
| Class | Driver/Co-driver | Car |
| Wrest Point GT2 | Jason White/John White | 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme |
| RDA Brakes GT4 | Steve Glenney/Andy Sarandis | 2015 Subaru WRX STI |
| Shannons Classic GT | Michael Bray/Daniel Bray | 1975 Holden Torana |
| Shannons Classic Handicap | Graham Copeland/Josh Herbert | 1941 GMC Jimmy Special |
| Duttons Garage Early Modern | Joshua Sutcliffe/Jon Mitchell | 2006 Subaru S204 |
| Country Club GT Sports Trophy | Martin Duursma/Richard Wodhams | 2013 Lotus Exige S V6 |
| Spirit of Tasmania Thoroughbred Trophy | Jack Waldron/Vin Gregory | 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma |
| Budget TSD Trophy | Darryl Marshall/Peter Marshall | 2002 Ford Falcon Pursuit Ute |
| Rookie Classic GT | Justin Gan/David Hart | 1978 Porsche 911 |
| Rookie Early Modern | Adam Gosling/Ian Noble | 2002 BMW E46 M# |
| Rookie GT | Jeff Morton/Steve Fisher | 2017 Lotus Exige |
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