It took a woman to attempt the most arduous undertaking. Renée Brinkerhoff, amateur rally driver, will be driving a rare Porsche 356 to the inhospitable continent of Antarctica in a month’s time. It is the last stage of the “Project 356 World Rally Tour” and he will do so with his oldtimer from Zuffenhausen in the name of a good cause: “We are very proud to have successfully completed every long distance rally we have participated in so far. Our actual goal was to make our running activities visible around the world to effectively support our campaign against child trafficking. We wanted to push borders and set new records. We hope to do so with our Antarctic expedition. “
The pilot has so far competed on six continents and on every terrain, Antarctica is the last continent of her tour. There are 573 kilometers ahead of her and the Valkyrie Racing team. If the weather conditions are good, Renée Brinkerhoff and the team will start the Antarctic tour on December 5th and finish it by the end of the year. The prepared Porsche 356 is already on its way to South America by ship from the workshop in England. Upon arrival in Chile, she will be flown to the extreme environment of the Union Glacier in Antarctica. At the end of November the team will also meet in Chile to begin the long-awaited journey, originally scheduled for the end of 2020.
The postponement of more than 18 months made it possible to completely redesign the sports car with a naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine to equip it for Arctic terrain. Kieron Bradley, who has a lot of experience in shipping, is responsible for the conversion as chief chassis development engineer. Bradley replaced the rear tires of the vehicle with tracks. At the front he mounted a pair of skis along with a special support and suspension system. A one-arm suspension with coil suspension is used to stabilize the two rear tracks. The total weight of the Porsche 356 increased, but the problem was later solved.
“The ski we have developed has to do 40 to 50% of the work compacting and preparing the snow so that the track unit can ski on it – with the lower shield indicating the direction. This prevents the caterpillars from sinking into the snow. weak cohesion, “explains Bradley. Another challenge with Bradley’s work was that the skis and caterpillars needed to be easily removed. This is the only way to mount studded ice tires without changing the track setting. A pneumatic lifting bag is used for the gearbox.
Renée Brinkerhoff will not be alone: with her the British researcher Jason de Carteret will take part in the polar tour as navigator of the Porsche 356. De Carteret has led more than 50 expeditions, including to the North Pole and the South Pole. Together with Kieron Bradley, he has set two world records for the fastest cross-country trip to the South Pole in the Thomson Reuters polar vehicle they developed.
“As is often the case when I enter new territory with my 356, I have not yet had the opportunity to test the car,” says Brinkerhoff. “The test will come when we are at Union Glacier. We are very confident that the new design will work well. As Jason and Kieron have told me, there is no comparable terrain on earth and therefore a test is not possible.”
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