27 April - Georgetown Temco Prologue
The prologue is held to determine starting positions for the event proper. The cars posting the fastest times are the last away on the first day of the event. John and Jason put in a solid performance to clock fourth fastest time of 3:19.68 behind the Porsches of Richards & Oliver 3:13.32, Quinn & Wenn 3:13.63 and the Ultima Coupe of Guy Beddington 3:14.80.

Day 1 - The Northern Loop
The first day of real competition saw eight competitive stages held starting in Launceston looping up through Devonport and back down to Launceston. The three stages before lunch were relatively easy and most of the top teams used them as a warm up for the afternoon session. After the lunch break stages were run through Devonport, Nook, Shefield, Quamby Brook and Longford. Due to a major crash the Devonport stage was downgraded to touring which left only four competitive stages for teams to make an impression. The White Hot team did exactly that being fastest or equal fastest car on all remaining stages to finish day one in equal first position a full seven seconds ahead of race favorite Jim Richards in a Porsche.

Images courtesy of Octagon Motorsport

Day 2 - The East Coat Trundle
Starting the day in Equal first place The White Hot team were confident of a good showing again today. Wet and slippery conditions greeted the competitors in the early stages and as the day wore on and conditions began to dry out the lead changed several times. Greg Garwood in his Porsche took the early lead but the real mover was Tony Sullens driving a Subaru WRX STi who was revealing in the early wet conditions to move up into second place however by the lunch break he had taken the outright lead. Jim Richards was also driving strongly and soon relegated John and Jason back to fourth. After lunch Sullens continued to drive well and put in some fast times however the White Hot Nissan Skyline GTR of John and Jason began to find its legs and they began to climb back towards the top of the field. By the end of the day it was Sullens in the lead with an 11 second buffer over John and Jason White and another 2 seconds back to Jim Richards.

  

Images courtesy of Octagon Motorsport

Day 3 - The Southern Loop
Starting the day on second place the White Hot team were in a good position to press for the lead and that is exactly what they did. By the end of the third stage of the day they had overtaken the leaders to hold a 4 second lead. They held this advantage until mid afternoon when the car developed an engine misfire that started to cost them time. By the end of the day they had dropped back to third place 13 seconds behind Sullens and Rabbett and 10 seconds behind Richards and Oliver. Motor racing legend Peter Brock suffered a flat tire and had to change a wheel thus incurring a 2 minute penalty and severely damaging his chances of a good finish.

Image courtesy of Octagon Motorsport

Day 4 - The North West Challenge
It was a long night for the White Hot crew as they tried to find the problem causing the engine misfire in John and Jasons Skyline GT-R. Not sure if they had fixed the fault by the start of competition they pushed on and got throught the first three stages on the long haul from Hobart to Burnie without dropping any time. As the day wore on and the stages became longer it became apparent that the problem was still there. With the engine cutting out and losing power over 6000rpm they pushed as hard as they could but surrendered valuable seconds on every stage. When they reached Burnie they had dropped to fourth position 2 minutes and 12 seconds behind Jim Richards who had taken an 18 second lead over Tony Sullens and a 1 minute 16 second gap to Tony Quinn in third place. Another well placed Tasmanian team Of Greg Garwood and Mark Perry crashed out of the event when their Porsche slid off the road and rolled down a bank, they were in third position when they crashed.

Images courtesy of Octagon Motorsport

Day 5 - The West Coast Enduro
After another long night of replacing engine electrics the White Hot crew finally traced the problem to a faulty fuel regulator, with the part replaced they were confident that the car was back to it’s full performance. Starting the final day in fourth position and over 2 minutes behind the leaders John and Jason decided to drive the car as hard as they could and see what would happen. The weather conditions for the trip from Burnie back to Hobart via the West Coast were terrible. Heavy rain and even snow on one stage created extremely slippery roads. Overnight leader Jim Richards soon surrendered his lead to Tony Sullens and during the day continued to slide back through the field. John and Jason put in a superb performance to be the fastest car all day on every stage except one. By the time all the cars had reached Hobart nobody was ready for the surprise result. Jim Richards had not only been beaten but also failed to make the podium. Tony Sullens was the winner with a 1 minute 16 second lead, the hard work put in over night by the White Hot crew combined with a great drive in appalling conditions saw John and Jason finish in second place 5 seconds ahead of Tony Quinn in third.

Images courtesy of Octagon Motorsport

Final Positions

1st - Tony Sullens - Julia Rabbett - 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX STi S202
2nd - John White - Jason White - 2001 Nissan Skyline GT-R Vspec II N1
3rd - Tony Quinn - Keith Wenn - 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo