If Daniel Ricciardo never again races an F1 car, he has a future doing Gymkhana-style videos. Showcasing his talent, humor, and personality, he entertains us in the latest Oracle Red Bull Racing video entitled “F1 Car vs. Outback | Daniel Ricciardo’s Great Aussie Road Trip.”
The video may lack some of the jaw-dropping spectacles of Ken Block sliding through Las Vegas, or Travis Pastrana jumping the Family Huckster. Still, Ricciardo is clearly in his element, off-roading his Red Bull RB7 F1 car and surmounting other challenges that are uniquely Austrailian.
Along the way, he’s joined by off-road racer Daniel Sanders and aerobatic pilot Matt Hall. Ricciardo races through various parts of Australia, narrowly avoiding getting herded with the cattle by a rancher in a helicopter. A quick pit stop at the Silverton Hotel in the Outback lets him swap his “off-road” tires for racing slicks before heading to the Sea Cliff Bridge.
A detour to Sydney gives Riccardo a chance to get some beach time and do some shopping before another stint of driving on unpaved roads. This time he has to dodge Toby Prices in his Red Bull Mitsubishi Triton Trophy Truck and avoid some of Australia’s most famous residents, including a koala bear, kangaroo, and an emu.
Gasing up at 7-Eleven, Riccardo’s pit crew swap tires again while he grabs something to drink. Then it’s off to Mount Panorama, home of the Bathurst endurance race circuit, for a lap with Shane van Gisbergen in his Red Bull Camaro.
The Red Bull RB7 looks at home at Bathurst. It makes you wonder what an F1 race would look like there. The track features several long straights and 571 feet of elevation changes. The most challenging part is a series of turns known as the Esses and the Dipper, which are long series of curves similar to the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.
“Daniel Ricciardo’s Great Aussie Road Trip” was filmed to promote Red Bull’s racing program ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, April 2, at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. It’s similar to other videos Red Bull has produced, including one with Sergio Perez driving his F1 car from New York to Miami.
