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Sunday Drives - Mark Webber

A long career racing single seaters and sports cars has seen Mark Webber spend less time than he might have liked in his native Australia. But the off season gaves the former Porsche works driver and busy Formula One pundit the opportunity to revisit some great local roads – a firm favourite of which is a picturesque loop through the high hills that fringe Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.“It’s a route I probably do eight or so times a year, through the hinterland of Queensland,” says Webber. “I leave Noosa on State Route 12 and head west towards a town called Eumundi. As you drive out of Noosa, you head through the lush, sub-tropical forest and you really appreciate what a beautiful area this is … the locals call it living in a ‘biosphere’ because so much of the area is protected forest. You cross the M1 motorway at Eumundi and hang a right to pick up the ‘22’, the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road. Then it’s about 30 minutes due west to get into some spectacular elevated driving, a good 500-600 metres above sea level. The temperature really drops, and you’re into a lot of tight hairpins and superb twisty stuff.”