Porsche Cayenne S: Team Oz grabs 13th place in Transsyberia Rallye

Oz scribbler, David Morley and erstwhile motorcycle and car racer, Paul Watson (who is also Porsche Australia’s Technical and Training Manager), joined a flotilla of Porsche Cayennes in the recent Transsyberia Rallye, running 7200 km from Moscow through Siberia to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Unlike last year, when Team Oz of Morley and Watson came to grief in a ditch in Mongolia, fracturing two vertebrae in Watson’s back, the duo this year managed to bring the big Porsche home in 13th place, and in one recognisable piece. Not a bad effort against a fancied field of professional international drivers.

With a 283kW 4.8-litre V8 up front, permanent all-wheel drive and differential lock, the Cayenne S is more than up-to-the-task of thundering across mountain passes, through desert storms and gouging its way through deep river crossings... all at speed. And it’s great that our lads, the slightly barking-mad Morley and Watson, kept the flag flying with a creditable performance. But – ok, call me a wuss – would you do it if it was your Cayenne? Perhaps that’s why Porsche supply the vehicles (proving the truth in one of the lesser theories of the universe that “someone else’s car will always go faster than your own” ).

Speaking after the rally, Morley said, “I saw terrain that had the appeal of a war zone, I have back soreness consistent with being trampled by horses, I ate camp food that glowed in the dark and I smell like the inside of a Sydney cab on a 40-degree day.”

Winners of this year's Transsyberia Rallye, crossing the line in Ulaanbaatar on July 26, was Team France with accomplished rally steerers Francois Borsotto and Christian Lavielle behind the wheel. Second place-getters, Spain, were two hours adrift over the demanding 7200km course.