Ricciardo to debut Eau Rouge supercar Down Under
Hints that Infiniti will engineer Aussie GP star and hotrod Q50 tie upInfiniti will leverage its relationship with Daniel Ricciardo to full effect in early 2015 when Australia's newest F1 star will debut the marque's Eau Rouge performance concept car Down Under.
That's what motoring.com.au has joined the dots and come up with, following strong hints from Infiniti insiders at this week's launch of the Q50 2.0t.
The headline photo opportunity will be made possible by an appearance of the car for media and selected VIP and customer drives scheduled as part of, or prior to, the Australian F1 GP in March 2015.
Ricciardo's Infiniti Red Bull team is sponsored by the Japanese prestige marque and his team-mate, four-times world F1 champ Sebestian Vettel, is the brand's Director of Performance. Vettel ostensibly played a role in the development of the GT-R-powered 418kW Q50 Eau Rouge all-wheel drive performance prototype.
After showing a video at the 2.0t launch of the Eau Rouge in action in Vettel's hands, Infiniti's new Asia Oceania Director Dane Fisher, quipped that Australia was one market where perhaps Infiniti should "re-cut the video".
Fisher commented that the brand would be "crazy" not to better leverage the relationship with Ricciardo to promote the fledgling brand Down Under.
"He's in our plans here... If we don't use him to support our dealers, to support this brand, but also for the public [recognition], it'd be crazy. So we've got some big plans for him," he told motoring.com.au.
"In fact there's something happening in the next few months that I'm really excited about. I'm driving it -- I'm a motorsport nut," Fisher hinted.
Although not confirmed for production, Eau Rouge is tipped to go into limited production, ahead of a full GT-R powered series-production flagship for the next generation Q60 family due for on sale in 2016.
Fisher would not confirm production plans for the Eau Rouge but was pointed in his reply when quizzed by motoring.com.au.
He stated it would "make little sense" to generate the amount of publicity and media coverage already garnered by the Eau Rouge without seriously considering a production outcome.
What this space…
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
