Daniel Ricciardo turns laps in Supercar
- Shahmir Khan
- Mar 13, 2019
- 2 min read
Renault Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo drove Rick Kelly's Nissan Altima Supercar at Calder Park ahead of this week's Australian Grand Prix and Supercar's Melbourne 400.
Ricciardo drove the Altima on Wednesday as part of pre-media activity, as team owner and driver Rick Kelly sat in the passenger seat.
The two share Castrol as their sponsor while Renault and Nissan also sit within the same automotive alliance.
The Supercar's Melbourne 400 will serve as support race for Formula 1 on Albert Park, ahead of Australian Grand Prix.
Talking about the Supercars experience, the Australian driver applauded the astonishing sound produced by Altima's V8 engine:
"I didn't have ear plugs, I probably should have worn ear plugs," he said.
"But yeah, the upshift and pulling a [gear]stick feels good.
"A paddle-[shift] is easy, it's made my life easy as a racecar driver because I can't heel-and-toe.
"But all that sort of stuff. The vibrations, it all just feels raw.
"The downshifting and banging it through and hearing it backfire. It was awesome."
Ricciardo also demonstrated Supercars before with Red Bull Racing Holden's Sandman V6 car around Sandown in 2016.
"That was, I guess, the closest thing I've had to driving a V8," Ricciardo said of the Sandman.
"But that didn't really want to drive in a straight line.
"That actually scared me. Probably because of that I was like 'If that's how they really are...' But this felt more race-ready.
"I felt like I could have a bit of a go in this today, whereas the Sandman was a couple of laps of filming. I didn't get enough time to get a real feel of it.
"This was... I don't know, it was cool. They're fast as well. It's got some ponies.
"Coming onto the drag strip here where it was a bit slippery, that was my favourite part.
"It would always snap out a bit. That was fun."
2019 Australian Grand Prix and Melbourne 400 will be held from 15th-17th March at Albert Park.
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