A true-blue Porsche

IT WAS serendipitous that we were driving Porsche’s new Macan on the South African media launch last Thursday just as Porsche South Africa was clinching the deal to buy the Kyalami racetrack.

As we stopped at a driver change point, Porsche CEO Toby Venter, who personally hosted us at the Macan driving event in the Western Cape while one of his representatives was attending the Kyalami auction in Joburg, stepped out of his car and told us with a broad grin that he’d just become the proud owner of SA’s most iconic race circuit.

The news saw motoring enthusiasts across the country breathe a sigh of relief. Venter confirmed it will continue to be operated as a racetrack rather than turned into a townhouse development, as had been feared if a bean-counter rather than a petrolhead had bought the property. Toby’s definitely the latter; he doesn’t just sell Porsches but races them too.

The Kyalami news almost, but not quite, overshadowed the reason we were in the Western Cape: to drive Porsche’s new mid-sized SUV.

Just before Venter delivered the good news, we’d driven the Macan (pronounced ma-kahn) through some curvy mountain roads including the famous Franschhoek pass, where it had displayed some very un-SUV-like handling manners. Though it has the elevated ride height of an SUV, the midsized Macan – which competes