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Walkinshaw Andretti United has released its trio of liveries for the forthcoming Supercars Indigenous Round.
Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat, and wildcard entry Jayden Ojeda will carry KARI Foundation-designed artwork inspired by Aboriginal culture.
Brian ‘Deadly’ DeVries of Wiradjuri Gunya was tasked with designing the #2 and #25 entries while the #27 was the work of Kamilaroi woman Rhonda Sampson.
The collaboration with the KARI Foundation comes courtesy of Mostert’s primary sponsor, Optus.
The KARI Foundation’s mission is to “build strength in families and services and their vision is to help Aboriginal families, youth and communities flourish,” according to WAU.
Established in 1999, the foundation designs and delivers quality programming and services to the Aboriginal community and is a leader in the space of child protection.
Mostert (pictured above) and Percat’s design (pictured below), dubbed ‘Community Togetherness’ recognises the collaboration between Optus and the KARI Foundation.
“It captures the journeys of travel coming together, the meeting places, the ripples of communication and the knowledge that is shared and is always plentiful,” the team said of the design.
Ojeda’s livery, entitled ‘Community, Culture and Connection,’ is a visual representation of the foundation and all its partners commitment to showcase Aboriginal excellence through the shared vision, mission, and values of the KARI Foundation.
The team explained, “The motif at the centre of the artwork represents the KARI Foundation and the many partners they collaborate with. Surrounding the motif are the seven pillars of connection: leadership, education, family and community, employment and business enterprise, sports and healthy lifestyle, creative and performing arts and procurement.
“The seven pillars provide points of connection and entry for Aboriginal people and culture to enrich community life.”
Walkinshaw Andretti United team principal Bruce Stewart hailed the team’s liveries.
“It’s fantastic to be able to celebrate the contribution of our Indigenous community across all three of our cars this weekend for Indigenous Round,” he said.
“The KARI Foundation has been phenomenal to work with, and it’s been fantastic to build on the relationship Optus started with them in 2019. We appreciate the connection.
“This is something that has been supported by not only everyone in our team, but our entire partner group, which is really cool to see.
“The grid will look fantastic, we have a number of initiatives we can’t wait to bring to life over the course of the weekend, in what is a really important weekend for everyone involved.”
Optus vice president of marketing Melissa Hopkins added, “We are really excited about bringing together two of our valued partners in Walkinshaw Andretti United and KARI Foundation to celebrate Indigenous Round in true Optus style.
“Celebrating the valued contribution of our indigenous community is extremely important to us at Optus, and we hope to inspire the groups we are hosting at the track from the Clontarf Foundation.
“We especially love how the Walkinshaw Andretti United team have embraced Indigenous Round and we can’t wait to see the first-ever grid filled with indigenous-themed liveries when we race at Hidden Valley.”
The Merlin Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway takes place this weekend across June 17-19.
