Ricciardo ‘working on’ Bathurst 1000 entry

Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed that he is “working” on an appearance in the Bathurst 1000 after talks with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown.

The Bathurst 1000 serves as the crown jewel in the Australian Supercars Championship, held around the Mount Panorama Circuit.

Ricciardo has had the chance in the past to sample the machinery having tested a Kelly Racing Nissan Supercar at Calder Park back in 2019, and publicly he has always remained open to appearing in the Bathurst 1000.

For the 2021 Formula 1 season Ricciardo will make the move to McLaren, and the Aussie said that he has already held some talks with Brown about a possible Bathurst entry.

“I’ve already had some conversations about Bathurst with him, actually,” he said when appearing on the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s In the Fast Lane podcast.

“Working on it, working on it.”

Brown has spoken previously about the possibility of Ricciardo and soon-to-be McLaren team-mate Lando Norris entering the Bathurst 1000.

“I think they’d both love to do it,” he said as part of the Supercars SideTracked show.

“I think people now know I’m a little bit different than most of the team bosses in F1 as I like to see our drivers go out and give it a go at Daytona or Le Mans, things of that nature.

“I think it’ll just come down to schedule and whether they can fit it in the schedule.”

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Ricciardo enjoyed a very productive final season with Renault in 2020, scoring two podium finishes. Before this year Renault hadn’t finished in the top three since returning to the sport in 2016.

And Ricciardo made memories when Lewis Hamilton finally took part in one of The Honey Badger’s famous ‘shoey’ celebrations where he, or an unfortunate peer on the podium, drink champagne from Ricciardo’s race boot.

And after that iconic shoey at Imola, Ricciardo said he signed that race boot and gifted it to Hamilton, instead of keeping it as his own “little trophy” like he usually does.

“What I do is I air them out, I keep those as little trophies,” said Ricciardo as he explained the process behind the shoey.

“But I actually, because Lewis did his first, I signed the one he drank out of and gave it to him at the next race so he’s now got something probably more meaningful than seven world titles.”

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