Red Bull Ampol Racing has revealed the special livery it will don for Supercars’ Indigenous Round at the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.
The design was devised by students of the Hunter River Clontarf Academy, who travelled north to Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Banyo headquarters for the launch today.
Drawing on the relationship between Ampol and the Clontarf Foundation, the artwork features the Hunter River and its connection to the local Aboriginal people, with further elements showcasing the story of the academy and its students.
Triple Eight managing director Jamie Whincup hailed the finished product.
“We’re truly fortunate to work alongside Ampol and the talented students from the Hunter River Clontarf Academy on this design,” said the seven-time Supercars champion.
“It’s also humbling to think that these students were able to travel from Newcastle to Brisbane today and be the first to reveal our livery – the very livery that they created.
“Ampol have been Triple Eight’s most long-standing team partner, and their commitment not only to us, but their community partnerships such as the Clontarf Foundation is remarkable.
“This is also a great initiative by Supercars to announce that the Darwin Triple Crown would be the category’s official indigenous event, and we’re so thankful that all of our major partners, headed by Ampol, were forthcoming by letting us represent their brands through this unique livery.”
Rookie Broc Feeney described the livery as “amazing” and is eagerly anticipating a full grid of themed Supercars at Darwin in little more than a week’s time.
“The students that we met today and helped us reveal the car for the first time are so talented to have created a design like this. It was also great to show them around the workshop and hopefully give them an experience that they will never forget,” he said.
“It’s obviously my first time at the Darwin Triple Crown competing in the Supercars Championship, but I’m ready to get up there.
“The crowd is always amazing, the weather is spot on, and I think seeing all of the cars on the grid in their indigenous liveries is going to look really cool. Our cars will definitely look the best though!”
Clontarf Foundation CEO Gerard Neesham added: “Ampol has been with us on our journey for more than 10 years and their support has played an important role in the expansion of our programmes to new states and schools.
“This is another example of a unique and rich opportunity that Ampol can offer our students to engage and to acknowledge and reward their achievements both in and out of the classroom.”
Triple Eight becomes the fourth team to show its cards for Darwin, following the Blanchard Racing Team, Brad Jones Racing (three of its four cars to date), and Grove Racing.
The Merlin Darwin Triple Crown will run across June 17-19.