Valtteri Bottas will put the Formula 1 free weekend to good use by getting behind the wheel of the 2016 Bathurst 1000-winning car in Adelaide.

With the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix now in the history books, Bottas having finished P18 and last there after hitting some debris early in the race which hurt the performance of his Alfa Romeo C43, attention will now turn to the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.

That then means a visit to Melbourne’s Albert Park, though Bottas will take a rather exciting detour along the way.

That is because he will be in attendance at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival on Sunday 26 March, where he will do much more than just show his face.

At 1045 local time, Bottas will be getting behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo GTV Group A touring car in the Heritage Touring Cars category in Adelaide, with that merely the prelude for his unique opportunity that will follow.

That is because at 1345 local time, Bottas will get to drive the Holden VF Commodore which was victorious in the 2016 Bathurst 1000 when team owner Jonathon Webb and Will Davison drove that car to victory.

Bottas will be guided by seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes.

And between the runs there will be time for fans to meet Bottas and get involved in a Q&A session with the Alfa Romeo driver, starting at 12 noon local time.

Bottas will then of course be remaining in the country as he heads over to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Grand Prix, Round 3 of the F1 2023 season.

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The Finn has tasted success at the venue before, winning the 2019 Australian Grand Prix and claiming a P3 finish in 2017, though both of those results came in Mercedes colours.

Nonetheless, P8 here last year with Alfa Romeo marked a solid result for team and driver.

This time around Bottas will be looking to add to his early F1 2023 points tally of four, those all scored via a P8 finish at the opening round of the season in Bahrain. Team-mate Zhou Guanyu is yet to get off the mark.

The article Valtteri Bottas to drive Bathurst-winning car ahead of Australian GP appeared first on Planetf1.com.