A contemporary Formula 1 car will grace the iconic Mount Panorama for the first time in a decade next year.
Red Bull is bringing its 2011 championship-winning RB7 to the hallowed venue to cut demonstration laps at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Exactly who will drive the V8-powered screamer is yet to be confirmed, although Daniel Ricciardo is among Red Bull’s options.
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The Perth-born driver was announced after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the team’s third driver and is set to form part of its promotional driver roster.
“Oracle Red Bull Racing are the current Formula 1 World Champions,” said Bathurst 12 Hour event director Shane Rudzis.
“Just to have them at the event is a privilege, but to know that the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 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 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.”
The RB7 brought Red Bull its second drivers’ championship and teams’ championship.
Sebastian Vettel took the second of his four titles in the RB7, winning 11 of the 19 races that season.
His teammate Mark Webber took one win in a season that included nine podium finishes on his way to third in the drivers’ championship.
It’s the first time since 2011 that a modern Formula 1 car has taken to the iconic Bathurst circuit.
Jenson Button unofficially broke the lap record when he took the 2008 championship-winning McLaren MP4-23 across The Mountain, setting a time of 1m48.8s.
Seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes also cut laps in the McLaren, clocking a time just a second off the pace of the 2009 Formula 1 champ.
The 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place across February 3-5.
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