V8 SuperUte Series gets into Indigenous Round spirit

The V8 SuperUte Series will join Supercars in celebrating Indigenous Round at the upcoming Darwin Triple Crown.

To mark the V8 SuperUte Series’ debut trip to Hidden Valley Raceway, each ute will adorn artwork of First Nations people on both front and rear windscreen banners.

For the winners, there will also be three round “bonnet” trophies that will make winning the round extra special.

The artwork has been designed by Sieders Racing Team crew member Steve Anderson, who hails from the Worimi Biripi region of Central NSW around Taree and Port Stephens.

V8 SuperUte Series category operations manager Filippa Guarna said turning the championship’s first trip to Hidden Valley into an Indigenous Round is meaningful to many in the paddock.

The V8 SuperUte Series indigenous artwork appears within the Tyrepower windscreen branding.

“Next week is a milestone round on many fronts for the Tyrepower V8 SuperUtes as we make our first appearance in the NT,” she said 

“But we’re very considerate of our paddock family and have numerous crew who are indigenous or have extended family who are. 

“So, there was no question about wanting to take an active role in the indigenous round.

“We’ve had tremendous support from NT Major Events and our series partners in Tyrepower and Yuasa Batteries, and we’re thrilled to bring this unique opportunity to life through many indigenous artists who will be telling the stories of our teams and the land they come from.”

Anderson’s designs focus on the V8 SuperUtes teams (tribes) all being interconnected (via rivers) and coming together to compete in Darwin for the first time.

The Blue Mountains have also been incorporated through linework.

The “bonnet” trophies that will be up for grabs have been made feature all the V8 SuperUtes teams coming together to a centre meeting point to compete in Darwin.

A render of the special “bonnet” V8 SuperUte Series trophies up for grabs at Hidden Valley.

Guarna said it enhances the “family” focus of V8 SuperUte Series.

“Anyone who’s been part of the V8 SuperUtes paddock knows how much we are one big family,” she said. 

“We travel together, we compete together, we know each other’s families, and that message of bringing everyone together is an overwhelming theme in a lot of the artwork that we’ll be seeing in our paddock in Darwin.”

Although teams have not been mandated to come up with their own designs, some crews are expected to unveil special one-off Indigenous Round liveries.

The 2024 V8 SuperUte Series started all the way back in February at Bathurst where Aaron Borg edged out Adam Marjoram by six points.

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