Daniel Ricciardo has hinted he wants to go bigger and faster on a motorbike after getting his first taste of road tracking alongside MotoGP legend Sete Gibernau, in turn earning a big thumbs up from one Valentino Rossi.
While we’ve seen plenty of two-wheel stars try their hand at car racing over the years – the most recent being an impressive DTM turn by Andrea Dovizioso – few have gone the other way with seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher’s brief turn in the IDM Superbike Championship one of the higher-profile but scant examples.
A seven-time Grand Prix race winner, Renault F1 Team driver Ricciardo recently linked up with sponsor Alpinestars to get his knee down on a 100cc mini-bike in Italy complete with tuition with Gibernau, a snippet of which was posted to Instagram and caught the attention of Rossi.
"Two-wheel guys are completely on another level of crazy"
Reflecting on the test, Ricciardo explains why he wants to get more into two-wheel action in future… before adding motorbike riders are on another level when it comes to ‘crazy’
"As a kid, Mum wouldn’t let me ride two wheels because she was scared, basically, and she thought four wheels was enough," Ricciardo explained to sister publication Crash.net.
"As I got older, I think I gained a bit of trust and started doing a bit more dirt bike riding and stuff, but I never did road bike riding. That’s one thing Mum would never let me have, a road bike, and I didn’t really want one because it is quite dangerous with other people on the road, but I thought if I ever get the chance to go on a track, that would be awesome.
"Getting back with Alpinestars this year, they were like you have to try it. They set it up with Sete Gibernau, and we rode at his private track. Little 100cc bikes, so nothing crazy, but it was enough to learn how to use your body a bit and slide the knee. It was so, so cool.
“The biggest thing, even on the minibike, is getting your elbow anywhere close to the ground. I was probably half a metre from the ground with the elbow. And now these guys, I think with [Marc] Marquez and his style on the big bikes, they’re getting that low and dragging an elbow.
“I think their flexibility and the dexterity of their body, and the physique, how they’re able to hang off the bike that well and hang on, and these guys weigh like 55 kilos.
"Everyone says race car drivers, we’re brave and crazy, but two-wheel guys are completely on another level. They are another level."
