White, the defending title holder, was third at the half way point at Lake William Hovell in Victoria’s north east, with local Matt Close, in an Audi TT RS, and Queenslander Tony Quinn, in a Nissan GT-R, tied with a four second lead.
But White stormed home on the run to Mt Buller, setting the fastest time on each of the four stages to overtake Quinn, with Close finishing a further five seconds back.
In the Classic car competition, Victorian Jon Siddins leads the way in his 1970 Datsun 240Z, from Queenslander Donn Todd, driving a 1971 Ford Capri Perana.
The Showroom class was dominated by Adam Spence in his new Reanult Menage RS 250, with Dean Evans the leading 4WD Showroom contender in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.
White has won the past five Targa events and is hungry to keep his winning streak going this weekend. But a late drama with his car leaves him with an anxious day ahead.
"We've got a slick knock in the front end that sounds like a driveshaft problem, so we were being a little bit gentle on the final stage up Mt Buller, but we still have the lead and it's a good result for the day,” White said.
“Hopefully it's an easy fix for the boys and we'll be back out there tomorrow.
"The tighter and twister stages tomorrow definitely suit us more. I think that provided nobody has issues with their cars tomorrow, the times will be very close. There'll be a battle on, that's for sure."
Matt Close knows he is within striking distance should White experience any trouble.
"We weren't aware that we were leading at the lunch break, because we're developing the car and had decided to just drive it as we saw it," Close said. "But we were pleasantly surprised.
"I do enjoy the Skyline stage tomorrow as it suits our car, but the Big River stage is a bit of a marathon where you need to look after your tyre pressures, so whoever does the best job out of that will probably take the cake."
Jon Siddins had a brilliant morning, opening an 18 second lead in the hotly contested classic class, with Haysman second and Todd just one second further back.
He held that buffer across the afternoon stages until the sprint up Mt Buller when Todd pushed his V8 to within seven seconds of Siddins.
"To be honest, I'm surprised we've gone as well as we have today and we would have preferred it to be wet, but we're very happy so far," Siddins said.“We lost some time going up Mt Buller as the car lacks the horsepower of the V8s that we're running against. We don't have anywhere near as much grunt as they do, so we just need to try and carry a bit more speed through the corners.
"The stages tomorrow should be more to our liking. The plan is to try and build enough of a lead so that we can hang on to it going up Mt Buller again.”
Siddins also leads the Early Classic handicap competition, while Lindsay Stone holds top place in the Late Classic handicap.
Matthew Rickards had a brilliant day in his Evo 7 to comfortably lead Early Modern, Craig Dean is well in control in Showroom Sports, and David Mathias is on top in Regularity.
2012 Targa High Country - Provisional results after Day 1
RDA BRAKES MODERN
1. Jason White / John White, 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale
2. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett, 2011 Nissan GTR, +15s
3. Matt Close / Casey Close, 2010 Audi TT RS, +20s
4. Jim Richards / Barry Oliver, 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, +55s
5. Robin Knaggs / Steve Glenney, 2008 Nissan GT-R, +1m57s
SHANNONS CLASSIC OUTRIGHT
1. Jon Siddins / Darren Ferguson, 1970 Datsun 240Z
2. Donn Todd / Dean Tighe, 1971 Ford Capri Perana, +7s
3. Craig Haysman / Neil Branum, 1981 Truimph TR7 V8, +38s
4. Matthew Cardinaels / Jason Page, 1972 Datsun 240Z, +1m18s
5. Lindsay Stone / Simon Martin, 1985 Mazda RX-7, +1m36s
SHANNONS EARLY CLASSIC HANDICAP
1. Jon Siddins / Darren Ferguson, 1970 Datsun 240Z
2. Colin Byrne / Paul Stoopman, 1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, +57s
3. Robert Devenish / Karien Heimsohn, 1971 Datsun 240Z, +1m54s
4. Donn Todd / Dean Tighe, 1971 Ford Capri Perana, +1m56
5. Ross Steuart / Nathan Steuart, 1962 Ford Anglia 105e, +2m10s
SHANNONS LATE CLASSIC HANDICAP
1. Lindsay Stone / Simon Martin, 1985 Mazda RX-7
2. Matthew Cardinaels / Jason Page, 1972 Datsun 240Z, +33s
3. Robert Gambino / Dennis Neagle, 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB, +37s
4. Craig Haysman / Neil Branum, 1981 Truimph TR7 V8, +39s
5. John Ireland / Michael Ribot, 1977 Porsche 911 Carrera 3, +46s
RDA BRAKES EARLY MODERN
1. Matthew Rickards / Damien Grimwood, 2002 Mitsubishi Evolution VII RS
2. Michael Pritchard / Gary Mourant, 2003 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, +1m43s
3. Paul Dowie / Nicole Bryan, 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, +1m50s
4. Danny Stutterd / Richard Scoular, 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, +2m36s
5. Kees van Ek / Pete van Ek, 2000 Porsche 911 GT3, +2m39s
RDA BRAKES SHOWROOM
1. Adam Spence / Erin Kelly, 2011 Renault Megane RS 250
2. Gavin James / Rorey James, 2011 Renault Megane RS 250, +51s
3. Glyn Crimp / Paul van der Mey, 2010 Ford Focus RS, +2m35s
4. Paul Shacklady / Anthony Carter, 2007 BMW 130i, +3m34s
5. Bunjamin Noor / Lee Challoner-Miles, 2011 Renault Megane RS 250, +4m41s
RDA BRAKES SHOWROOM 4WD
1. Dean Evans / Matthew Harriott, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
2. Scott Millar / Christopher Dean, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, +2m23s
3. David Heaton / David Bobowski, 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X RS, +2m59s
4. Dean Coutts / Brett Portbury, 2011 Volkswagen Golf R, +3m08s
5. Ben Newman / Crichton Lewis, 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +3m17s
RDA BRAKES SHOWROOM SPORTS
1. Craig Dean / Emma Quigley, 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
2. Neill Ford / Nathalie Ford, 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, +1m53s
REGULARITY
1. David Mathias / Kim Begelhole, 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, 78 points
2. Ed Kreamer / Marc Sobbel, 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, 100 points
3. Bill Gill / Kathy Gill, 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera, 149 points
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