White, who also took his Lamborghini Gallardo to top points at the opening round of the series in November, started the final day with an eight second deficit to Matt Close's Audi TT RS.

But victory on six of the day's seven stages gave him and co-driver John White a commanding 41-second win to top the leaderboard with the maximum possible score of 500 points.

Close took his first podium of the series to move to second place with 440 points.

Mazda driver Brendan Reeves took third in his first outing in the factory-backed RX8 SP, while Targa legend Jim Richards was fourth in his Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

Tasmanian drivers dominated the round - Launceston's David Cooper produced a brilliant drive to win the classic competition in his 1977 Holden Torana A9X, while Hobart's Eddie Maguire took a surprise victory in the highly competitive TMR Performance 4WD Showroom category.

Hobart's Matthew Rickards was one of the sensations of the event in his 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer, winning the early modern class and finishing as the fourth fastest car in the event more than half a minute ahead of Jim Richards

``It was extreme pressure out there, because we knew Closey was going really fast,'' White said after finishing.

``All we could do was go ballistic and hope for the best, and I think the stage records on the last three stages of the day will stand for a long time because we've got no intentions whatsoever of going any faster than that again.

``On the last stage we scared every single guide post, bank and gum tree - there was not an ounce of road left and it was 100 per cent everywhere through the stage.

``It was a pretty rewarding drive.''

Despite dropping to second, Close said that he was thrilled with his result in a car that was getting faster at every event.

The result leaves him well within striking distance of White, with 500 points still on offer in the final round of the championship.

The final round of the championship is Targa Tasmania, to be held from April 17 to 22.