28/12/2022
NEWS STORY
As Red Bull confirms it is sending a 2011 F1 car to Bathurst, excitement is building in the hope that Daniel Ricciardo might be at the wheel.
The Austrian team is sending an RB7, the car as raced by Sebastian Vettel in his second championship winning season, but has yet to confirm who will be driving it.
The car will complete a number of demo runs at the legendary Mount Panorama circuit as part of February's Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour weekend.
"Red Bull are the current Formula 1 World Champions, just to have them at the event is a privilege," says event director Shane Rudzis, "but to know that the Red Bull F1 car will be lapping Mount Panorama will be something else.
"This will be a spectacle like nothing we've seen at the 12 Hour before," he adds, "and takes the event to an entirely new level. This will be the best opportunity in 2023 for Australian F1 fans to get up close and personal with F1 machinery and an even rarer opportunity to see a Formula 1 car lap Mount Panorama."
Confirmed as Red Bull's third driver in late November, along with on-track testing (what there is of it) and simulator work, much of the Australian's duties will involve commercial activities such as demo runs.
Hugely popular in his home country it makes perfect sense for Ricciardo to mark his return to the Red Bull fold at such an iconic event, though countryman Liam Lawson, could also be called up.
As if the thought of Ricciardo - who has never driven the Mount Panorama circuit isn't enough, organisers have confirmed that seven-time MotoGP champion, Valentino Rossi will be contesting the race in a BMW M4 GT3.
The Renault-powered RB7 is no stranger to Australia for other than its Grand Prix outing the car was driven by Mark Webber in a 2013 Top Gear event and Ricciardo in 2015 at the Perth Festival of Speed. Indeed, the car is regularly on duty, including performing do-nuts at the team's Milton Keynes HQ is celebration of Red Bull's Constructors' Championship win.
Confirmation of who will be at the wheel is expected in January, while the event takes place from February 3-5.