For the first time the Darwin Triple Crown will be formally recognised as the Indigenous Round for Supercars.
The series is following the lead of the major Aussie football codes, the Australian Football League and the National Rugby League, by officially recognising the country's Indigenous culture.
While teams have sporadically run First Nations-inspired liveries in Darwin before, this year they are compulsory for all cars in the field.
That's prompted a remarkable string of unveilings of spectacular one-off looks that has added to the excitement of the pre-Darwin build-up.
As for the racing, there will be some key storylines to watch across the Darwin weekend.
Points leader Shane van Gisbergen will be coming straight off his Le Mans outing in the GTE Pro class, which means jet lag could be a factor for the dominant Kiwi.
Dick Johnson Racing, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back from a tough Winton SuperSprint at what has been a happy hunting ground in the recent past.
If the powerhouse team can't bounce back in Darwin its place as the top Ford squad could come under threat from the in-form Tickford Racing and Grove Racing outfits.
Tickford was a two-time race winner at Winton courtesy of Cam Waters while GR is on a rapid rise thanks to smart investment in people and hardware from the Grove family.
There will be a total of 27 cars on the grid this weekend, the regular 25 cars joined by wildcard entries for Zak Best (Tickford) and Jayden Ojeda (Walkinshaw Andretti United).
Speaking of wildcards, another potential curve ball is a tweak to the tyre regulations.
In a bid to boost degradation from the super soft Dunlop tyre the minimum tyre pressure has been upped to 20 psi from the regular 17 psi.
The practice of warming tyres in direct sunlight before a session has also been outlawed.
Teams have traditionally used the sun to naturally raise temperature, and therefore pressure, before bleeding the pressure back to the minimum. That means the real pressure is lower than the minimum, the shape of the tyre changes, and the degradation is lower than expected.
The new rules will be in place for at least the Darwin and Townsville rounds.
The Triple Crown will be decided over three races – one on Saturday and two on Sunday.
2022 Supercars Darwin Triple Crown session times
All times local (GMT+9:30)
Friday June 17
8:15-8:30 Combined Sedans – Practice
8:50-9:20 Australian Superbikes – Practice 1
9:40-10:00 S5000 – Practice 1
10:10-10:35 Carrera Cup – Practice 1
10:50-11:20 Supercars – Practice 1
11:45-12:15 Australian Superbikes – Practice 2
12:35-12:50 Combined Sedans – Qualifying
13:00-13:20 S5000 – Practice 2
13:30-13:55 Carrera Cup – Practice 2
14:05-14:35 Supercars – Practice 2
14:55-15:30 Australian Superbikes – Practice 3
Saturday June 18
8:10-8:20 Combined Sedans – Race 1
8:30-8:50 S5000 – Qualifying
9:10-9:30 Australian Superbikes – Qualifying 1
9:35-9:50 Australian Superbikes – Qualifying 2
10:10-10:30 Carrera Cup – Qualifying
10:40-10:50 Combined Sedans – Race 2
11:00-11:25 S5000 – Race 1
11:45-11:55 Supercars – Qualifying (Part 1)
12:00-12:10 Supercars – Qualifying (Part 2)
12:20-12:50 Supercars – Top 10 Shootout
13:10-13:50 Australian Superbikes – Race 1
14:10-14:35 Carrera Cup – Race 1
15:25-16:25 Supercars – Race 1
Sunday June 19
7:30-7:45 Combined Sedans – Race 3
7:55-8:20 S5000 – Race 2
8:35-8:45 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 2)
8:50-9:00 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 3)
9:15-9:40 Carrera Cup – Race 2
10:00-10:40 Australian Superbikes – Race 2
11:00-11:25 S5000 – Race 3
11:55-12:55 Supercars – Race 2
13:10-13:35 Carrera Cup – Race 3
13:55-14:35 Australian Superbikes – Race 3
15:25-16:25 Supercars – Race 3
