AFTER an expensive rebuild, White Hot Racing’s $600,000 Lamborghini Gallardo has been rebirthed to compete in this year’s 24th Targa Tasmania.
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Jason White, 42, has spent more than 1000 hours rebuilding the formidable vehicle, which only went through a test run on Friday before Monday’s start.
‘‘We’ve had a few software-computer issues with the car, which has stopped us from putting it together,’’ he said.
‘‘We had to leave it apart until we got on top of it, so I only drove it for the first time last night (Tuesday) and it felt like something we can work with.
‘‘The past two days have been 20-hour days and there will be a few others.
‘‘It is going be be a last-minute thing, but we’ll get there.’’
The car caught fire in the Targa West Point’s final stage last year.
White said he will again be behind the wheel with his uncle John White, 65, navigating as the Whites look to win their fifth Targa Tasmania title.
‘‘It is all brand new, the car’s had a full rebuild from front to back ... it is a newer model and it is a different looking car to what we had before,’’ White said.
‘‘It certainly does look beautiful sitting there, but being a race car it needs to do more than that.’’
White, who last year drove a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, said the pair were looking to make amends after crashing out in the fourth stage.
He named past champions Tony Quinn, Jim Richards, Steve Glenney and Eddie Maguire, who has won the past two tarmac Targa events in the country, as the major challengers.
‘‘It is going to be a tyre battle because they have made a six-tyre rule and we’ve all been quite hard on tyres,’’ he said
‘‘We will have to watch our tyre wear ... it will be an interesting game of cat and mouse.
‘‘If someone is leaping away, a lot of the other guys will be wondering how long they can keep it up for.
‘‘The tyres will determine the speed you are going to be able to do from the start to the finish of the event.’’