Ricciardo cuts Nissan Supercars laps

Daniel Ricciardo drove a full-blown Supercar for the first time today, jumping behind the wheel of a Kelly Racing Nissan.

The Formula 1 superstar sampled Rick Kelly's Altima as part of a Castrol promotional event, cutting laps of the Calder circuit on the outskirts of the Victorian capital.

His first run consisted of around 10 laps on his own in the car, before Kelly jumped in for a second run.

According to Ricciardo, the biggest things that caught his attention were the sound from the 600-horsepower V8 engine, and the stick-operated sequential gear shift.

"I didn't have ear plugs, I probably should have worn ear plugs," he said.

"But yeah, the upshift – pulling a stick feels good. A paddle is easy, it's made my life easy as a racecar driver because I can't heel-and-toe.

"But all that sort of stuff. The vibrations, it all just feels raw. The downshifting and banging it through and hearing it backfire. It was awesome.

"I wouldn't say I got up to speed, but it took me a few laps to figure it out. When you've got so much aero you can brake right into the corner and then pick up the throttle early. There's not much rolling time.

"But here, there's a lot more rolling time here. It's more in steps; you brake, ease off, roll, pick up the throttle. It's more delicate, in a way.

"[And] just picking some apexes with all of the roll cage and all that. I couldn't see much. I could see more out the front compared to an F1 car, but out the side it was trickier."