Hollywood superstar fulfills his need for speed.
Red Bull F1 have recently carried out a tour of the United States in order to promote the US Grand Prix scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas next year.
As part of this, Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise was invited to try a few laps of the Willow Springs Raceway in one of Red Bull's F1 race cars (it's unclear as to which one but the in-season testing ban probably means it was last year's version).
Tutored by F1 veteran, BBC F1 pundit and owner of the world's tightest white jeans, David Coulthard, Cruise appears to adapt to the very unfamiliar car rather well. His lap times improved by 11 seconds during the test and he hit a top speed of 181 mph, only 4 mph shy of Coulthard's maximum at the circuit, although their overall comparative times are not revealed.
Coulthard seems genuinely impressed by Cruise's ability and reckoned, given enough time and laps, Cruise could be a contender at a high level of racing!
While this was no doubt a lot of fun for Cruise, and fantastic PR for Red Bull and the US Grand Prix, I somehow doubt it will lead to a sequel of Days of Thunder in which Cruise's character Cole Trickle moves from NASCAR to F1.