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Ricciardo smashes lap record at Top Gear Festival Sydney

Saturday 8 March 2014, SYDNEY: Formula One™ star Daniel Ricciardo didn’t disappoint the crowds at the first day of Top Gear Festival Sydney when he smashed the previous lap record from the 2013 Festival on his first attempt.

An annual crowd favorite, the young Australian driver made plenty of new fans today, including Top Gear’s presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May, when he blitzed the lap record attempt. In the beautiful Sydney sunshine, Top Gear Festival host Jeremy Clarkson, was almost lost for words, but not quite: “That was almost unbelievable. You climbed into a car you don’t know, tyres you don’t understand, on a track you’ve never been to and took a couple of milliseconds off the lap record. That was an astonishing time!” A beaming Ricciardo clocked up 1:13:08 beating Mark Webber’s previous record of 1:13:6060 and was heard to ask “What was it?” as he climbed out of his Infiniti Red Bull Racing car.

Clarkson and May proceeded to ask Ricciardo about his win and the upcoming Formula One season, to which Ricciardo responded, “It’s great to get the lap record on the first day and give the crowd a good show. It’s awesome to be back in Australia.” “Feeding off the adrenaline from the Top Gear Festival Sydney, I’m really looking forward to racing in front of the home crowd in Melbourne next weekend,” Daniel said. Ricciardo will see if he can improve upon his own time again tomorrow, so fans should get out to Sydney Motorsport Park to see Perth-born Daniel, our new Formula One Aussie hope, in action.

Ricciardo returns home for Top Gear Festival Sydney

14, NOVEMBER 2013, SYDNEY – Formula One star Daniel Ricciardo and the world championship winning ‘Infiniti Red Bull Racing’ Formula One team are set to take to the track for the first time together in Australia at Top Gear Festival Sydney in March 2014.

Ricciardo, who was recently confirmed as taking over the hot-seat from Mark Webber for the 2014 F1 season, will attend the Festival for the first time and will be involved in a series of Top Gear style challenges in the RB7, as well as having the chance to set the new lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Webber currently holds the record, having shaved an impressive six seconds off the previous record at Sydney Motorsport Park with a cracking time of 1:13.6060 at the 2013 Top Gear Festival Sydney.

Ricciardo, who will be behind the wheel of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing car for the first time in front of an Aussie crowd, is looking forward to taking part in the event.

“I can’t wait to be on home soil next year for Top Gear Festival Sydney. Only a select few Australians have raced in Formula One and I’m proud to be flying the flag now for Australia.” said Ricciardo.

“The Festival weekend is going to be an adrenaline-loaded few days. From all reports, Mark put on quite a show earlier this year so it’s great to be given the opportunity to be a part of the 2014 Festival and I’m really looking forward to taking on the challenges set by the Top Gear boys!”

With Formula One technical regulations set to change to smaller turbo-charged engines from 2014, it will be the last chance for fans to experience the thrill of the naturally-aspirated V8 engine live on track in Sydney. The Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB7 is one of the most dominant Formula One cars of modern times and the same car Webber broke the record with earlier this year. Fans keen to relive the excitement of this year’s festival can tune into Channel 9 on Thursday 21 November for a Top Gear Special filmed at Top Gear Festival Sydney. As well as a multitude of madcap motoring synonymous with Top Gear the programme includes some exclusive footage of Clarkson and May’s unorthodox pep talk prior to Webber setting the lap record.

Tickets for next year’s Festival are now on sale and fans are encouraged to buy early to join the tens of thousands of fans who are expected to attend. Jeremy Clarkson and James May are all set to join the stars and cars as they host the 2014 edition. They’ll be taking on Australian Top Gear presenters Shane Jacobson and Steve Pizzati in a series of challenges including the extremely popular Car Football and The Stig will be taking some of the rarest supercars the country has ever seen for some impressive power laps. Jeremy Clarkson said, “I’m very much looking forward to the Top Gear Festival in Sydney next March. On the downside, I’m afraid I’m bringing the pedantic spaniel James May with me. On the plus side, Daniel Ricciardo is going to have a crack at the lap record in a Red Bull F1 car and that should be very excellent indeed.”

New to the line-up in 2014 is the highly anticipated first round of the Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup. The Porsche series primarily uses the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) car and will be the headline racing category at the event. Proudly supported by the NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, Top Gear Festival Sydney will once again be a key event on the NSW Calendar.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris, said, “It is fantastic to see The Infiniti Red Bull Racing team are returning for a second year to the Festival, this time with Daniel Ricciardo behind the wheel.” “I encourage racing fans to purchase their tickets to the Sydney-exclusive 2014 Top Gear Festival to be held over the weekend of Weekend of 8-9 March, 2014 at Sydney Motorsport Park.”

The event will be held across the weekend of the 8-9 March, from 8:30am till 6:00pm each day, at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek.

Tickets available now from Ticketek – 132 849 –

In Australia, Top Gear can be seen on BBC Knowledge, first on Foxtel with brand new episodes coming in early 2014, and then on the Nine Network and Go! About Top Gear Festival Sydney 2014 Offering a variation on more traditional motor shows the Top Gear Festival Sydney brings the spirit of the UK TV programme to life, allowing fans to immerse themselves in their passion for Top Gear and motoring in general.

Transforming Sydney Motorsport Park into the ultimate outdoor motoring spectacular, Top Gear Festival Sydney is taking place on 8-9 March, 2014 and will once again feature a host of never seen before action and stunts. Following a highly successful inaugural event in 2013, which attracted over 40,000 motoring enthusiasts over two days, the 2014 event will be attended by Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and The Stig, along with some of their legendary racing mates and celebrity friends, live in non-stop racing action.

TOP GEAR FESTIVAL SYDNEY BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Top Gear Festival Sydney will see the best of the best put to the test, where anything with an engine will be pushed to its limits.

DATE: 8 – 9 March, 2014, 8:30am – 6:00pm each day

LOCATION: Sydney Motorsport Park, Ferris Road, Eastern Creek

TICKETS: Tickets available now from Ticketek – 132 849 – –