Perth racer Daniel Ricciardo is physically ready for his next Formula 1 race after his body managed the demands of his first drive better than expected.

He achieved his main aim on his debut outing for Hispania Racing Team on Sunday at the British Grand Prix by finishing, albeit three laps behind Spaniard race winner Fernando Alonso.

The Duncraig driver then flew immediately to mainland Europe on Sunday night to start preparations for his next assignment at the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring running from July 22-24.

Ricciardo said physically he had felt pretty good after the race.

Sources present in the team garage said Ricciardo had still been calm and full of energy post-race despite covering 288.66km at the Silverstone circuit in the longest race of his life.

The WA driver said learning how to cope with the blue flags that came with being a race backmarker had been the greater challenge.

A blue flag warns a driver he is about to be lapped and should let the faster car overtake.

Passing three blue flags without complying can result in penalties.

"I thought (the physical demands) would be the biggest difficulty, but it was more the blue flags so I was quite happy," Ricciardo said.

"I think obviously there's things I've got to work on, but as a whole I exceeded the physical expectations, which was nice."

Ricciardo had never driven in the Hispania Racing's F111 vehicle before the Silverstone event, with his first run coming in grand prix practice last Friday.

"The more time I drive it, the more comfy I am," Ricciardo said.

"We're still in a pretty heavy phase of learning and with the team as well, but I think it's been a good weekend.

"It was interesting, we learnt different stages of the tyre and with pit stops, so there's a lot for me to take from the weekend and put towards Nurburgring. Hopefully I can close the gap a bit."

Australia-based British racer Ben Barker will join Parr Motorsport for the Snetterton (6/7 August) and Knockhill (3/4 September) rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during a mid-season break in the schedule for the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.

After winning the 2010 Australian Formula 3 title, Barker (20) has been impressive in the Carrera Cup Australia with Team BRM, taking pole position at round two in Perth and is currently sixth in the championship standings. Barker, originally from Cambridge, started his racing in karts and then contested the 2009 British Formula Ford Championship before switching his career to Australia.

“I’m very excited to be returning to the UK during the break in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia,” said Barker. “I haven’t raced in the UK since my first year in car racing back in 2009, so after some decent seat time in Australia, I’m confident I can show my pace and produce some good results in the Carrera Cup GB. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“The main aim is to get my name a little more known back in Europe,” said Barker. “It will also keep me on my toes for the Australian series when I return to Phillip Island. In only my third year in car racing, I need to drive as much as possible; the more experience I get, the better driver I’ll become.”

After competing in the Carrera Cup GB, Barker will return to Australia for round four of Carrera Cup Australia at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island, Victoria in mid-September.

“We’re excited to have Ben on board,” said Paul Robe of Parr Motorsport. “He’s been identified as a rising star in British motorsport so we’re optimistic that he can produce some good results and mix it with the front runners. He’s got some experience in the car and of the circuits and with some testing we feel that he’ll do well. We’re looking forward to working with him.”

OUR email box at Saturday Sleuthing continues to expand but one car that has been featuring prominently has been Allan Moffat’s Cenovis Falcon EB.

It was built new as an EB Falcon in 1993 by Russell Caddy and Ian Walburn for Moffat and debuted at Bathurst complete with carburetor V8 engine supplied by Holman and Moody in the US (rather than the fuel injection systems run by all other teams) in black and fluro yellow Cenovis colours by Andrew Miedecke and Charlie O’Brien.

It only made four appearances in the hands of Moffat’s team and each year that appearance came at Bathurst. The car retired early in ’93 and then finished eighth in 1994 with Miedecke and Brit Jeff Allam driving.

It was an early retirement again in 1995 with Miedecke and Mark Noske, before having its last hurrah in Moffat’s hands in 1996 with German ace Klaus Niedzwiedz finally returning to the Mountain to team with Ken Douglas.

The duo finished 10th before the car then sat around without a racing budget.

It was bought in 1998 by Alan Heath, who updated the car to EL specifications and ran at Bathurst that year with Douglas, however the car was involved in a massive multi-car accident when Heath was tagged into the wall approaching Forrest’s Elbow.

The damaged car was sent to MTA Group Training in South Australia and the students rebuilt the car for Ross Halliday to use in the inaugural 2000 Konica V8 Lites Series – now known as the Fujitsu Series.

Halliday then put the car back to Cenovis livery and EB specification and it was sold to passionate Perth-based collector Andy Brown, who still owns the car and has put it back to its 1994 Bathurst livery, complete with small ‘winglets’ that typified the EB series II model.

‘Saturday Sleuthing’ has now become a regular feature of the BigPond Sport V8 Supercars site each Saturday on non-race weekends.

We’ve still got a pile of emails to work our way through but keep them coming and we’ll build up a big list to go hunting for.