Prince William impressed professional race drivers as he drove a pioneering electric SUV - though he was forced to laugh off bumping his head as he got out the car.
The Duke of Cambridge visited a racetrack in Fife, Scotland, to view motorsport company Extreme E's hydrogen fuel cell for charging cars using zero-emission energy.
He spoke to the developers of the technology, asking them not to go into too much detail, joking it would go over his head - which he bumped as he later got out of the car.
His public appearance comes after an extraordinary week for the embattled royal family, and just two days after his powerful statement in the wake of the Dyson report on the BBC's interview of his late mother, Prince Diana.
Clearly enjoying himself, William said he was "amazed" at the technology, praising its ability to use waste water from the energy process to wash the company's race cars.
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He spoke to Alejandro Agag, founder and chief executive of Extreme E, and George Imafidon, a junior engineer on Lewis Hamilton's X44 team.
He was shown the electric race SUV by driver Catie Munnings, who competes for the Andretti United Extreme E team, before driving it on the 4x4 track at Knockhill Racing Circuit
After being told the car's horsepower, he said: "Put some wings on it, it would take off."
He laughed off bumping his head while climbing out of the car after a training lap, before hitting the track.
The duke drove the car - equipped with a 'Prince William' decal with a British flag - around the muddy twists and turns of the circuit.
Despite clipping a chicane on one turn, William emerged to praise from staff and drivers, saying the experience was "awesome" and he was "going to apply for a job" with the company.
"That's my kind of racing ... a track's a track, tarmac, but this is just that bit of slideyness, that grit, and it's heavy, you've really got to think about what the weight distribution is like," he said.
Asked by driver Ms Munnings if he found the limits of the car, he joked: "I found the limit quite quickly. Like you said, you've got to go the limit and then you know where it is."
Ms Munnings was full of praise for the duke.
"It was an honour to meet Prince William and to drive alongside him. It just felt like having one of your mates in the car. He's so relatable and really relaxed and a really good driver as well.
She added: "I've been a rally instructor for years so I was really surprised by his car control and he turned up the power as well to almost the max of what we can do in the Extreme E car as well.
"The fact that he could handle that - I think he's ready to enter one of the races."
Former Supreme Court justice Lord Dyson published his damning report into Martin Bashir's interview of Diana in 1995 on Thursday.
It found that the reporter had lied and deceived his way into securing his explosive chat with the Princess of Wales, and the internal investigation led by Lord Hall into the matter was "woefully ineffective".
William issued a statement after the publication in which he described Bashir as a "rogue reporter" and said he and Prince Harry had been failed by bosses at the BBC.
He added that the interview made a "major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse", adding it has "since hurt countless others".
Diana infamously said "there were three of us in this marriage" when speaking to Bashir, referring to her then husband Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996 before she was tragically killed in a car crash in 1997.
William's appearance also comes in the wake of comments made by his brother Harry in a new documentary about mental health and on a podcast.
The Duke of Sussex has appeared in a new series called 'The Me You Can't See' for Apple TV+, in which he talks to Oprah Winfrey.
Aired clips show Harry accusing the royal family of "total neglect" and talking about his relationship with Charles.
He also spoke about his upbringing when speaking to podcast host Dax Shepard, in which he said he had suffered "genetic pain".
In the wake of Prince Philip ’s death, Harry said: “When it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on."
The duke quit his royal as a working royal in March 2020 and now resides in California with wife Meghan Markle and their son, Archie.
