RICCIARDO TILT AT BATHURST FLOATED
THE door is opening for Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo to make a shock wildcard entry with his future team, McLaren, at the Bathurst 1000. The Aussie has repeatedly flirted with the idea of driving a Supercar competitively — and his new team may provide the ingredients to make the dream a reality. The 30-year-old has confirmed he will make a seismic move from Renault to English-based team McLaren for the 2021 F1 season and McLaren boss Zak Brown is already thinking of side projects for Ricciardo to sink his teeth into when he arrives at the end of the 2020 season. One of those projects includes a wildcard entry into the Bathurst 1000. Brown, who bought into Supercars team Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2018, gave a preliminary green light to the project in an interview on Fox Sports. “I think they’d both love to do it,” Brown said of Ricciardo and teammate Lando Norris teaming up for a Bathurst assault. “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 the schedule.” During his first drive in a competitive Supercars vehicle last year during promotion with former Supercars champion Rick Kelly’s Castrol Nissan at Calder Park, Ricciardo admitted the challenge excited him. “I wouldn’t say I got up to speed, but it took me a few laps to figure it out,” he said.