Pierre Gasly was glowing with excitement after sampling an Aussie Supercar this week at Calder Park Thunderdome, saying the enthralling experience has encouraged him to put the Bathurst 1000 on his bucket list.
Ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Gasly and his Alpine F1 colleagues Esteban Ocon and Jack Doohan were invited by Castrol to try out Thomas Randle's Tickford Mustang at Calder.
And the two Frenchman got more than what they bargained for.
"That was insane," said Gasly. "A really amazing experience the first time driving this beast. It was actually my first time driving on an oval, it was incredible.
"Just too short – when I came back to stop here, I wanted to go for another 10 laps!
"It was a very impressive car, much different to what I’m used to driving so I definitely had a lot of fun.
"Bathurst is definitely on my bucket list, I definitely want to participate one day there."
Ocon's ride onboard the Mustang Supercar revived memories of his days with Mercedes in the German DTM series.
But the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner admitted to taking a conservative approach to the test given the wet track and the fact that Randle will race the car on Thursday at Albert Park.
"It definitely felt great, it’s cool to have that experience as the car is racing tomorrow also, so we had a big responsibility," Ocon said.
"I love to try and experience new categories and that definitely was a lot of fun.
"It accelerates very fast. We were on an oval and it was a bit wet today, so we were on the wet tyres, but it definitely is a proper Supercar.
"I did race closed racing cockpits before but that was definitely the one of the top ones I have tested."
Ocon would also love to have a shot at Bathurst, admitting that he often sampled the daunting Mount Panorama course in the virtual world.
"I drive Bathurst a lot on the simulator and it is something else," he said. "Of course I would like to experience it in real life, I haven’t done so, but one day."
As for Alpine reserve Jack Doohan, the 20-year-old said he was as impressed by the car as he was by the Thunderdome track.
"It was very cool. It was surreal to come here and see this place for the first time, the banking is amazing," said the Formula 2 charger.
"[The car] was unbelievable, a lot of power as well. I’d never driven the car before and for it to be in these conditions – slippery, greasy, a little bit wet and also on a track like this – it was very cool."
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