Door thrown open for Ricciardo Bathurst tilt

McLaren driver Lando Norris says team boss Zak Brown is open to the English driver competing in non-F1 events, in a further sign that Daniel Ricciardo could one day drive at Bathurst.

Norris has signed a new multi-year deal with McLaren, that will keep him at the team until at least 2023.

But Formula One isn't the only category that interests Norris, who drove in the Daytona 24 Hours in 2018 for United Autosports, the team founded by Brown.

Asked if his new McLaren deal allowed him to drive outside of F1, the Englishman admitted it remains a long-term goal.

"Good question. I'm not going to say too much," he said.

"It's definitely something I would still love to do at some point in my career.

"It's not going to be this year or probably next year, because there's so much focus this year in F1 with COVID and it's not really capable of doing that, and next year with the new rules and everything you want to be spending your time with the team and focusing on one thing.

"If you're not, you're not doing a good enough job and you're not doing everything you can to maximise your one objective."

Expanding further, the 21-year-old said Brown remains open to competing in other categories.

"There's definitely things I would want to do and I think Zak has the same opinion and objective," he said.

"We would love to do more races together like we did in Daytona, the 24 Hours. I would love to do more endurance 24-hour races, or 12-hour races, whatever it is.

"I had a lot of fun doing those kind of things so it's definitely something that's in the back of my mind for the future."

One 12-hour race that might be on the agenda is the Bathurst race, typically held in early February.

While October's Bathurst 1000 comes at a time when the Formula One season is in full swing, February's race is much more feasible, usually a month before the opening round of the championship, and prior to pre-season testing.

Norris could team up for the race with Ricciardo, who has already expressed an interest in driving at the country's most famous track.

"When I signed with him [Brown], over the early phase of last year, we had these conversations and it was thrown in there: 'We should get you to do the 12 Hours of Bathurst'," Ricciardo said last month.

"If he asked me and it worked logistically, I would say yes."

As well as the McLaren F1 team, Brown has interests around the motorsport world, including IndyCars and the Australian Supercars championship.

Brown has already promised Ricciardo a drive in Dale Earnhardt's 1984 Chevrolet if he can score a podium this season. Ricciardo's car bears the No.3, partly as a tribute to Earnhardt, the NASCAR legend who died during the 2001 Daytona 500.

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