Supercars set to run Indigenous Round in Darwin

The Supercars Championship is set to follow in the footsteps of the Australian Football League and National Rugby League in running an Indigenous round as early as this year, Darwin’s Hidden Valley being tipped to play host to the culturally inclusive races.

Years of progress and recognition of the First Nations people of Australia has seen more and more Australian sports embrace the rich history of cultural heritage, often being recognised with special jerseys and ceremonies surrounding certain rounds across the major codes.

Now Supercars looks to join in, Chief Operating Officer Shane Howard today announcing they were in talks with the Northern Territory venue to have a more unified event where teams are encouraged to play their part rather than do so of their own accord such as in previous years.

“One of the things we are looking at with Darwin and working with the promoter there is for Darwin to be the indigenous round,” Howard said.

“We’re working through a number of activations and things with the promoter to do that. I think this is a really cool thing to do, a really good step.

“There’s a lot of interest. Certainly a lot of interest in support from our teams and from [the Australian] Defence [Force].

“We’ll be working with Indigenous people, introducing Indigenous people to the event, to our team, to the sport, and work with the community,” he added.

“Obviously we want to bring awareness to the Indigenous people and where we can help with sport.

“We think that we can really do a good job of it across all levels of the sport.

“I’m really, really looking forward to going to Darwin. I think everyone looks forward to going to Darwin anyway.”

Recently Supercars team bosses Ryan Story (Dick Johnson Racing) and Roland Dane (Triple Eight) have become directors of the new Racing Together program, run by former racer Paul Morris to encourage Indigenous youth to get into racing and provide pathways for them to do so.

Both Garry Rogers Motorsport (featured image) and Triple Eight (in-article image) have previously run special Indigenous-inspired liveries in the past at Darwin, something Supercars hope more teams will embrace.