Tasmanian Maguire is looking to add to his successful rally and hillclimb record in the coveted tarmac rally where he and co-driver Zak Brakey clutch a 1.33-minute overall lead as rain lashed the day's six stages.

The pair had earlier in the day stopped at the scene of Jason and John White's nasty accident on the Moorina stage which saw the Dodge Viper catch fire after spearing off the road and cannoning off a dirt bank.

Maguire was awarded a derived time after selflessly stopping to assist his fellow Viper competitor, ensuring his noble actions did not compromise his position at the head of the standings.

"Jason's accident today was very unfortunate, but we've also had a few dramas of our own today," Maguire said.

"We had a wheel-speed sensor fail on the first transport stage, so we had no ABS for the Sideling, and in this weather and this car, it's quite undriveable in those conditions.

"We got that rectified straight after and we've been cruising through a bit today in the wet.

"Today has been the worst tarmac conditions I've ever driven in and I reckon all that gravel rally experience has come into play to help."

Maguire also leads Dutton Garage GTO standings ahead of Angus Kennard and Ian Wheeler (2015 Nissan GT-R).

The day was overshadowed by the heavy shunt involving the White Viper 200m from the finish of the Moorina stage.

The Viper suffered chassis and fire damage with both Jason and his co-driver uncle John taken to St Helens hospital for precautionary checks but were otherwise unhurt.

The accident followed on from an opening day of drama for the Whites who stalled at the start of the penultimate stage and then had a battery explode which dropped them from the lead.

"We weren't really trying to do anything too heroic at the time," White explained.

"As soon as we hit the stream (of water) it just snapped sideways and snapped back the other way.

"It is one of the only things I've been nervous about with these cars is the really wide rear tyres which act like a couple of boogie boards under your rear wheels when you hit water.

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

"It was on the exit of a blind corner and there was no time to prepare for it.

"It burst into flames pretty quick and there was a full engine bay fire.

"We managed to get our extinguishers on it and then Eddie (Maguire) and Zak (Brakey) turned up and put their extinguishers on it. Then one of the radiator hoses burst and extinguished most of the flames under the bonnet.

"The rest of the car is quite salvageable and it looks a lot worse than it is. There is a little bit of fire damage in the middle of the console where the wiring started to ignite.

"Apart from the bumper and a bonnet and a bit of wiring, it's just a bit of chassis damage which will probably take more in time than actual monetary damage."

Day three of Targa Tasmania, which marks the halfway point of the event, takes the field from Launceston across to Strahan on the West Coast, with further bad weather forecast set to add to the test ahead.