Australian off-road legend Les Siviour dies after cancer battle

Les Siviour, a legendary name in the Australian off-road racing world, died Thursday night after a short battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed in late August.

A rice farmer, Siviour’s racing career began in 1982 when he attended an off-road race in Kempsey and was invited for a hot lap of the track alongside fellow fans. Driving his wife Jan‘s “shopping car” Nissan Patrol, he set such strong times that he was invited to race competitively. He made his début at the Riverland Enduro with the Patrol, which had its rear seats removed and a rollbar attached, and won his class.

The Patrol would become the vehicle of choice, with factory support from Nissan, throughout Siviour’s career in the Australian Off Road Championship (AORC). He won seventeen AORC Production 4WD championships with the Patrol, including fifteen straight years from 1983 to 1998. He also claimed the overall AORC title in 1987.

“We’ve raced Patrols for twenty years and we’ve won seventeen Australian Championships in them,” Siviour said in early 2022. “You can put these things up against any other 4WD, and they won’t match it. They’re built like a bloody tank. If I can’t break them, nobody will.”

He retired from racing in 2003, though he returned for one-offs at the 2005 and 2010 editions of the MTQ Engine Systems Griffith 700. The latter start came as co-driver to his daughter Katie, whose husband Shannon Rentsch is a nine-time AORC overall champion.

Siviour’s passing adds to a tragic week for the AORC, following the deaths of racers Gerry Hoekstra and Ede Taric at the Rainbow Desert Enduro in a fiery crash. AORC sanctioning body Motorsport Australia later announced all competing vehicles must have additional handheld fire extinguishers weighing at least two kilograms.

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