Mark Webber and Stéphane Ortelli have joined Porsche Australia for its latest campaign, celebrating 60 years of the 911.
The 911 Dakar Down Under campaign features the pair of racing drivers as they dash between Cooper Pedy in the Australian Outback to South Australia’s Bend Motorsport Park.
In the video, Mark Webber gets behind the wheel of the new Porsche 911 Dakar, which features a 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six making 353kW of power and 570Nm of torque, mated with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive.
It can do the 0-100km/h sprint takes a claimed 3.4 seconds.
“G’day mate, welcome to Australia,” Webber says to Ortelli as the Monégasque racing driver gets into the high-riding 911 in Coober Pedy carrying a black box.
Flicking the Dakar to Rallye mode, Webber navigates a dirt road as Ortelli tries to keep the box stable.
The video then jumps to the race track near Adelaide, where Webber brings the Dakar to a stop next to a 911 GT3 RS parked in the pits.
The box changes hands and Ortelli takes the steering wheel of the GT3 RS, which has a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine with 386kW. It does the 0-100km/h sprint in a claimed 3.2 seconds.
After trying and failing to keep the box stable, the duo get out of the car and reveal it was carrying a now very smushed 60th birthday cake.
Mark Webber has been a brand ambassador for Porsche Australia since 2016. Stéphane Ortelli is best known for his three world championship wins and 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans race title.
“Both Mark and Stéphane are legends when it comes to pushing performance boundaries and in this film, they really show the fun that is embedded in driving the rear-engine 911,” said Porsche Cars Australia CEO and managing director Daniel Schmollinger.
Porsche Australia revealed the 911 Dakar late last year. It features a 50mm lift, a retuned chassis, active roll stabilisation, rear wing, red aluminium towing hooks, a wider body, Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tyres and a 12V outlet on the roof.
Inside, the Dakar features fixed bucket seats up front, and no rear seats. Thinner glass is standard, as is a lightweight battery, to help keep the weight down relative to the wider 911 range.
If that isn’t enough, the Rallye Design Package – which carries an additional $54,730 price tag – brings a two-tone white and blue finish with red and gold stripes, in a nod to the heavily reworked 911 that won the 1984 Paris-Dakar rally.
The vehicle costs $491,400 before on-road costs, and Porsche has committed to offering 2500 examples worldwide.
The 911 GT3 RS on the other hand has a starting price of $500,200 before on-road costs. It arrived in Australia in the second half of this year.
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