The Tasmanian won all four rounds of the modern competition last season, and continued his winning steak at the opening round of the championship, Supaloc Targa Adelaide, in August.
White, along with his co-driver and uncle, John White, have formed a formidable team in the brilliant 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale, worth well over $600,000.
Around $20,000,000 of machinery will be on display at Targa High Country, as the 150 cars take on the testing roads in Victoria’s north east.
White’s major competition is expected to come from Victorians Matt and Casey Close, who pushed White hard during April's Targa Tasmania, only for a minor accident to end their event early. Since then, they have put a lot of time and development into their 2010 Audi TT RS, and their first event win may not be far away.
On home ground at Supaloc Targa Adelaide, the son-father combination of Matt and Dennis Sims were also pushing White hard, until they spun their 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec-V in wet and slippery conditions, putting them out of the running. They'll be confident of their chances this weekend, however.
And you can never forget the legendary Jim Richards. The seven-time Bathurst, eight-time Targa Tasmania winner is still regarded as one of the country's best drivers, and while his rear-wheel drive 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS may be at a disadvantage against his all-wheel drive rivals, experience counts for plenty.
Last year, as White made his way to the summit of Mt Buller on the final stage of the rally, his car caught on fire. Flames licked the rear of the Lamborghini, but White pushed on, crossing the line in first place and then immediately putting a fire extinguisher to work.
He’s hoping for a less dramatic finish in 2012.
“It was on fire from about the half way mark, but we thought it was best to get up to the finish where there were more fire extinguishers than trying to put it out with ours, and obviously there was a win at stake so we just pushed on,” White said.
“It was a bit hard to concentrate with a fire ball hanging out the back but man, what a dramatic finish.”
“Since then things have gone pretty smoothly. We’ve won the last five rounds, and all our effort is going in to making it straight six.
“The crowds always turn up in Mansfield on the Friday afternoon for the street stage. It’s one of our favorite stages of the season and we’re hoping plenty come along again to cheer us on.”
“With the absence of Tony Quinn this round, the two Matts – Matt Sims and Matt Close – are the ones that we are worried about the most.
“If they have their cars sorted the ability is certainly there to push us very hard.”
After the opening street stage and Targa Expo in Mansfield from 4.30pm on Friday, the cars tackle eight stages on Saturday.
The first four stages will see competitors head down Mt Buller, then up and over Tolmie and Whitlands to Whitfield, before a lunch break at Lake William Hovell. Cars will return to Mt Buller after the same four stages, run in the reverse direction on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday’s route heads to and from Eildon over a further eight closed road stage, before the official champagne finish on Mt Buller on Sunday afternoon.
For spectator information, visit the official event website at www.targa.com.au
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