Matt Close has set up the prospect of a grandstand finish after edging into the advantage of Jason White during an intense battle on Targa’s penultimate day.
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Porsche 911 GT3 chargers Close and co-driver Cameron Reeves cut 10 seconds off Jason and John White’s lead.
The Whites have been the pacesetters since the iconic rally started five days ago.
Any chance of a shock lead change will have to wait until the final stages, just south of Hobart, on Saturday.
The final six stages total only 66.34km, as the Whites protect a 27-second lead.
The White’s Dodge Viper has managed to withstand the pressure from Close.
After entering Day five with a 37-second break, the Whites had their lead take an eight-second dive through the 8.70km Tarraleah run, the fourth stage of the day.
Then through TS26, the 8.01km run through Molesworth, Close clipped another two seconds off the Viper.
On the TS27 route through 6.72km along Grasstree Hill, which completed the day, the gap between White and Close remained static.
Close was frustrated not to have eaten away more time.
“It was disappointing on the Strahan stage to find out that even though we were nine seconds faster than Jason (White), he cleaned the stage, so it all means nothing,” Close said.
“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.”
After voicing his concern about running out of tyres, White is confident he has the grip to make it to the finish.
“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,” White, who leads Wrest Point GT2 class, said.
Steve Glenney and Andy Sarandis are third in their Subaru WRX STI and lead GT2, training the top pair by over two minutes.
Angus Kennard and Ian Wheeler are second in the RDA Brakes GT4 class in their Nissan GTR. Mark Balcombe and Brian Foster, who had been running third in the class, hit a tree about 3.3km into the opening Strahan stage in their Nissan R35 GTR, ending their campaign.
Shannons Classic GT sees the 1975 Holden Torana, of Michael and Daniel Bray, continue on top with an eight minute, 52-second lead over the 1980 Jaguar XJS of Mark Hammond and Dennis Neagle.
Anthony Genocchio and Scott Hamilton were also eliminated after running second in the Classic GT class when their 1983 Holden HDT Commodore stopped on the high speed run through the 52.58km Mt Arrowsmith stage.
“It’s been a really great day. Lucky for us we’ve been able to have some fun and just cruise through,” Bray said.
In Duttons Garage Early Modern, Josh Sutcliffe and Jon Mitchell (2006 Subaru) are pulling out all stops to withstand the challenge from Liam and Larry Howarth (1995 Nissan Skyline R33 GTR).
Rookie Early Modern remains unchanged as Adam Gosling and Ian Noble have forged to a decisive lead in their 2002 BMW E46 M3.
Although Gosling has admitted the M3 has developed an engine problem.
“We’ve developed a bit of an engine misfire and it got worse after lunch,” Gosling said.
“Don’t know what it is yet but we may need our buffer.”
The 2005 Mitsubishi Evo, of Colin O’Brien and Rhys Llewellyn, remain eight minutes and one second in arrears.
Jeff Morton and Steve Fisher remain circumspect about the huge lead of more than 13 minutes they hold in Rookie GT in their Lotus Exige.
“The lead doesn’t tell the whole truth – some of the cars behind us have copped a bit of a penalty,” Morton said.
“We’ll just continue enjoying the roads and bring it home to the finish hopefully without any dramas.”
The 1978 Porsche 911, of Justin Gan and David Hart, are set to sail to victory in the Rookie Classic GT race.
Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams occupy top spot in the Country Club GT Sports Trophy category, with Kristian Downing and Clayton Weber leaping into second position in their 2011 Subaru WRX STI.
Barring any last minute surprises, positions appear to be resolved in the Spirit of Tasmania Thoroughbred Trophy, with Jack Waldron and Vin Gregory holding a huge lead in the 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma
The all-Marshall affair appears to have swung heavily in favour of Darryl and Peter Marshall in the 2002 Ford Falcon Pursuit Ute after second-placed Brian and Justin Marshall (2011 VW Polo GTi) amassed more penalty points in the Budget TSD Trophy field.
There were changes to the minor placings in the Shannons Classic Handicap behind leader Graham Copeland and Josh Herbert’s 1941 GMC Jimmy Special.
Ashley Yelds and Charlie Hughes moved up to second place in their 1961 Volvo 122S after the 1975 Fiat 131 Abarth stopped Nike Prieston and Dylan Braithwaite on the opening stage of the day.
The pair was able to rejoin the action on the penultimate stage of the day.