Day 4: Final preparations

Aug 02, 2007

Special to the Star

With less than 24 hours before the Trans-Siberian Rally sets off from Red Square - and with almost all of the competitors' cars having been held up at customs - our final day in Moscow was spent completing the registration and technical inspection process and making last-minute preparations.

To the already-comprehensive equipment in our rally Cayenne, we've added a couple of electrical inverters (to run chargers for our cameras and laptops), an intercom system (so we can hear each other over the din of the engine and tires) and a variety of Velcro patches to hold the remote controls for the navigation system and rally computer.

Scrutineers checked to make sure all the cars had the necessary safety features to complete the rally: roll cages, spare gas tanks, fuel cut-off switches and two spare tires, among others.

We've also had some time to look over the road books and directions. The road books are rally-style directions, with "tulip" diagrams depicting each turn as well as interval and cumulative distances and GPS waypoints. Regular roadmaps and topographical maps serve as backup.

Navigating our way to the end in Mongolia shouldn't be too difficult.

The challenge will be pacing ourselves so we don't burn ourselves - or any part of the car - out before the end. Rod Millen and Jeff Zwart, two of the other Porsche North America drivers, are quick to remind me that on a race this long, you're not competing against the other teams, but against the route itself.