Daniel Ricciardo has started a week of activities ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on a positive note by smashing the Sydney Motorsport Park lap record by almost six-tenths of a second on the opening day of the Top Gear Festival.

Driving the 2011 model Red Bull RB7 Formula 1 car, the Australian impressed the thousands of fans that included Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May.

Despite the fact that he had never driven a racing car at Sydney Motorsport Park, Ricciardo clocked 1:13:08 beating Mark Webber’s previous record of 1:13:6060.

“It’s great to get the lap record on the first day and give the crowd a good show,” said Ricciardo.

“Feeding off the adrenaline from the Top Gear Festival Sydney, I’m really looking forward to racing in front of the home crowd in Melbourne next weekend.”

Ricciardo will see if he can improve upon the time again tomorrow on the second day of the Top Gear Festival Sydney. He will then switch to the latest turbo-charged RB10 at Albert Park next weekend in Melbourne for the opening round of the F1 season.

VIDEO: Fan cam of Ricciardo on the front straight