Aussie charger ‘Dan the man’ is gearing up for his 6th Australian Grand Prix this weekend as the season gets under way in Melbourne Australia.

The likeable local has some extra motivation this year ahead of  the Albert Park opener, after a grandstand was named after him for this years event.

“This year they have named a grandstand after me, the Ricciardo Premium Grandstand with views of Turns Three, Four and Five, which is pretty cool,” he said.

“It’s another bit of motivation for me to do well and I will of course give the fans a wave. It’s great to have such positive support and I’ve heard the tickets sold out pretty quickly for the stand.

“I will definitely embrace the weekend, have some fun with it and try and give the fans a reason to celebrate on Sunday.”

In his 5 previous Melbourne starts, Dani has yet to score a podium finish. 2014 was the closet he came, but a fuel flow infringement saw his Red Bull disqualified from the results.

Back on home soil, Ricciardo will be in high demand as the excitement towards the 2017 season gathers pace.

“It’s always good to be back on home soil and enjoy a bit of sunshine after winter testing,” he added.

“My home race is awesome in so many ways but it’s also super busy and full on, the week for me starts on Monday and doesn’t stop until Sunday night.

“It’s nice that there’s so much media attention at the start of the season and everyone is super excited to see how I go. I try and attend as many events as I can but I’m still there to do a job.

“We get a pretty big greeting from everyone when we arrive at track each morning, the fans are so enthusiastic!”

All eyes will be on the home favourite, a trip to the podium is surely the minimum expectation? As F1 enters into a whole new era (ownership and regulations wise), Red Bull will be hoping that their smiling assassin will be drinking from his shoe come Sunday night.