Kees Nierop, a native of Holland but a long-time resident of Kelowna, British Columbia, began his Porsche career in 1979 driving for the Dick Barbour 934 team in IMSA races at Portland and Road America.  At Sebring in 1980, co-driving with Bobby Rahal, he finished sixth overall.  Later that year, the young Canadian teamed with Bob Akin in a 935 at the Mosport Six Hour, again finishing sixth.  In 1983, Nierop, then 25 years old, scored a historic victory at Sebring when he, Wayne Baker and Jim Mullen triumphed over a brigade of 935s and other prototypes with a GTO class 934—the only time this has ever happened.  Nierop is a Rothman’s Porsche Cup champion, with 956 and 962 seat time to his credit.  For the Porsche factory team, he drove the 961, the racing version of the 959 supercar, at Le Mans in 1987.  Nierop competed in the 2007 TransSyberia Rally with fellow Canadian Laurance Yap.

Ryan Millen, though only 23, has competed in the infamous Baja 1000 five times, completing every one he entered, the last four with Colin Godby as his co-driver. In addition to competing, Ryan has pre-run the Baja course at least a half a dozen times more, honing his off road skills. For 2007, Ryan won a convincing class victory at New Zealand’s toughest ofroad event, the Taupo 1000.

“When my Dad came to me and asked if I would be interested in taking over his seat in the TransSyberia Cayenne, I just couldn’t believe it,” says young Millen. “After all the stories I’d heard about how tough the rally is and how beautiful the landscape is and to drive for an icon like Porsche, well, it’s truly a dream come true.”

Co-driving for Millen will be Colin Godby, a mechanical engineer as well as a longtime friend. "Colin and I are a good match," Millen says, "We're both outdoorsy and we're used to dealing with adversity and difficulty in the wilderness. We drove together in the Baja 1000 and he's an intelligent guy."