Red Bull Ampol Racing today unveiled a special livery for the Darwin Triple Crown, designed by students of the Hunter River Clontarf Academy in Heatherbrae, New South Wales.
The special livery will be run across both #88 and #97 Supercars at Hidden Valley Raceway and celebrates Ampol’s longstanding partnership with the Clontarf Foundation and the recent release of its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan. The Clontarf Foundation operates to improve the education, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men through academies in schools across Australia, including their program at Hunter River High School.
The artwork tells the story of the Hunter River Clontarf Academy, showing where the Hunter River meets the harbour and the connection that local Aboriginal people have to the water. There are footprints along the river which grow from small to large and illustrate the journey of leadership and growth that Clontarf students embark upon on while at school.
The circles of dots throughout the artwork represent the local communities that the academy connects with. The ‘blue sunrise’ represents new beginnings and how the hunter river students strive to become the best versions of themselves and learn from others.
Red Bull Ampol Racing driver Broc Feeney and Team Principal Jamie Whincup pulled back the covers on the tribute livery at headquarters today, where the artists saw their design aboard the Red Bull Ampol Racing supercar for the first time.
“The car looks amazing,” said Feeney.
“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.
“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!”
Jamie Whincup, Managing Director of Triple Eight Race Engineering, said: “We’re truly fortunate to work alongside Ampol and the talented students from the Hunter River Clontarf Academy on this design. 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.”
Brent Merrick, Ampol Executive General Manager, International and New Business, said that Ampol is proud to continue its longstanding partnership with the Clontarf Foundation as part of its renewed focus on supporting reconciliation in Australia.
“Ampol is proud to be here with Jamie and Broc to unveil this special livery designed by the very talented young artists from the Hunter River Clontarf Academy.
“Our partnership with the Clontarf Foundation, which in 2022 reached the milestone of 11 years, is an important part of our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan that we released in March.
“As a large national company that has a deep history across Australia, we understand our responsibility to be a sustainable, diverse business and to connect with others to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and create opportunities for equitable participation in Australian society. Supporting the education of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men is a key part of this goal.
“The striking artwork we see on the car today has strong alignment to Ampol and our reconciliation journey – representing a deep connection to community, the value of building relationships and how we’re leveraging our strengths to transform our business for a successful future.”
Gerard Neesham, Chief Executive Officer of the Clontarf Foundation, said: “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 programs 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.”
