Driving the dream with Daniel Ricciardo

Tourism WA wanted to promote road trips as an immersive way to experience Western Australia. Who better to demonstrate a self-drive holiday than Western Australia’s own Formula One driver, Daniel Ricciardo.

Starting in Perth, the cast and crew would travel north in a convoy of five 4WDs taking some of WA’s most iconic locations. The 9-day shoot would cover more than three thousand kilometres by trip’s end.

There’s no end of picturesque vistas to shoot in WA. However, the best parts of a road trip are unscheduled and unprompted. These moments, often reflective, don’t involve landmarks but are what make road trips so special. We wanted to capture these first and foremost. That meant making Daniel and his best friend, Blake, feel at ease. We did this by ensuring the crew was as unobtrusive as possible. We also gave the guys time to simply be themselves and encouraged unscripted dialogue. It wasn’t long before they were just a couple of mates on the road, scoffing strawberries and creams, singing along with a favourite playlist and teasing each other about their driving skills.
The meditative hum of tyres on bitumen inevitably encouraged deeper conversations. There was even a point when the guys realised they hadn’t touched their phones for the entire day. Well, that’s what a road trip does.

The resulting short film shows off the country at its best. Endless coastlines, surreal colours, unique characters. It also shows two good mates reconnecting and, in some ways, rediscovering what friendship really means. A combination only a dream drive in WA can deliver. A group of talented Western Australian (and one South Australian) musicians created the soundtrack that enhanced the local flavour of the film and accentuated the road trip vibe.

Western Australia’s Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Rita Saffioti, said “The ‘Drive the Dream’ campaign takes road tripping, as seen through the eyes of Daniel Ricciardo, to a new level. The campaign will help Western Australia to stand out as one of the world’s most unique, memorable and desirable places to undertake a road trip adventure, now and into the future.”

The campaign will be rolled out domestically and in key international markets.