[BITList] FIRE!

[John Feltham]

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Last Updated: February 02, 2014
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Targa fire destroys Jason White's Lamborghini in $600,000 burnout
JAMES BRESNEHANTHE SUNDAY TASMANIANFEBRUARY 02, 2014 12:00AM
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Jason White's prized $600,000 Lamborghini is just a charred mess after catching fire in the Tahune forest. Picture:  Targa Wrest Point Source: Supplied
TASMANIA'S most famous Lamborghini burned to a charred shell yesterday and the Italian dream machine may never race again.

Jason White and navigator, his uncle John, were unharmed after their $600,000 competition-spec Lamborghini Gallardo supercar caught fire in the Targa Wrest Point rally in the state's South.

The car was badly damaged from the driver's seat back after it burst into flames at 190km/h.

The fire took just four minutes to wreck the supercar and a fuel line or oil line coming loose off the engine is suspected as the cause of the inferno.

It was a hot-lap that Jason, 41, of Spreyton, and John, 64, of Devonport, didn't expect.


Jason White's supercar may never race again after catching fire in Targa yesterday. Picture: Ross Marsden

"I'm gutted," Jason White said. "It's a devastating sight. All the money, work and heart that's gone into the car, completely destroyed."

The pair who call their team White Hot Racing are the reigning Australian Targa champions.

They have driven the Lamborghini to victory in three of the past four Targa Tasmania events and were shooting for their fifth Targa Wrest Point in succession.

With about 3km to the finish of the 22km Tahune stage, Mr White saw flames shooting from the rear-mounted V10 engine.


Jason White's prized $600,000 Lamborghini is just a charred mess after catching fire in the Tahune forest. Picture:  Targa Wrest Point
"When your rear view mirrors glow orange, it's a bad sign," Mr White said.

"There was just a massive fireball out the back. The car is completely written off from the seats back," Mr White said.

"We've had the car on fire once before, at Mt Buller, which was a reasonable size fire. But that was a candle compared to this one."

Mr White thought he could make it to the end of the stage where a fire truck would be waiting.

"I drove it until the chassis rails melted off it and that's what stopped us from rolling to the point where the fire truck was," he said.

"The suspension mounts didn't have anything to hold on to anymore because the chassis melted away and the wheels basically fell off."

Mr White said he was "extremely lucky" the fire service was on hand and acted quickly.

"Hats off to those guys and a massive thanks because they saved the rest of the car," he said.

"Although there is a huge damage bill, we could have been looking at a complete pile of ash. We've only got half a car to rebuild.

"They can add us to the list of people thankful for the work they do."

The Lamborghini was still the third fastest car on the stage.

"I had to avoid parking it on the side of the road and starting a bushfire," Mr White said. "It's one thing to burn your car to the ground, it's another to start a bushfire during a total fire ban."

If the Whites decide to repair the car, they need items such as rear tail lights ($4000 each), rear bumper ($8000), wing ($10,000), hatch ($15,000), gearbox ($30,000) and V10 Lamborghini engine ($60,000).




ooroo


The following lines were cut by a soldier in a stone sentry-box at Gibraltar: 

"God and the soldier all men adore. 
In time of trouble, and no more; 
For when war is over, 
And all things righted, 
God is neglected; 
And the old soldier slighted." 





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