born in perth, western australia, ricciardo started karting at the age of nine, as a member of the tiger kart club (tkc) and entered numerous karting events. in 2005, he entered the western australian formula ford championship driving a 15-year-old van diemen, finishing eighth by season's end. towards the end of the season, ricciardo took a leased 13-year-old van diemen across to sandown raceway in melbourne to compete at the national formula ford series but his ageing car was uncompetitive as he finished 16th, 17th and retired during the weekend's three races. the following year, however, he won a scholarship into the formula bmw asian championship with eurasia motorsport. during his début season, ricciardo took two victories (both at bira) and also achieved a pole position at zhuhai. he finished third in the drivers' championship with 231 points, 59 points behind the champion earl bamber.