Brad Jones Racing was today the second team to unveil its First Nations-inspired livery for Supercars' official Indigenous round in Darwin.
The Pizza Hut-backed entry will carry a colour scheme designed by the Elders group at the Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation, a service body dedicated to the indigenous community in Albury and north east Victoria – the region where BJR is based.
Their artwork has features such as a 'googar' (goanna) and three blue lines to represent the Murray River, the Victorian/New South Wales border that splits Albury and Wodonga.
“[BJR general manager] Chris Westwood contacted Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation in mid-April to see if we would like to be a part of designing the Indigenous design livery for BJR’s cars," said MAC's Carl Tunstall.
"After having a think about which MAC programme should design the Indigenous livery, the Planned Activity Group (PAG), which is a social group for our local Elders that promotes physical activity, cognitive stimulation, good nutrition, emotional wellbeing, and social inclusion, was the main choice, as it aligns with this year’s NAIDOC theme - 'For Our Elders'.
“Over the next few Planned Activity Group meetings, the Elders worked on the design, with a few of the Elders expressing to MAC staff that they had “a new lease on life” after being given to opportunity to participate in this project.
"All the Elders who participated in the project are excited to see the final results of their work.
“Giving the Planned Activity Group the car’s colour scheme by providing them with photos of Brad Jones Racing’s Pizza Hut Camaro, they knew straight away that a Googar-themed design for the car was suitable.
“MAC, along with the participants of MAC’s Planned Activity Group is very thankful to Brad Jones Racing for giving the organisation the opportunity to work together to design the Indigenous design livery for their cars.”
Jones said it will be an honour to represent his home town with such a meaningful livery.
“It’s been a great experience working with the Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation to produce these designs, their Elders group has done an amazing job and I’m quite humbled to be able to race with their artwork on the car," he said.
“I’ve grown up in Wiradjui country and in my opinion it’s some of the most incredible landscapes in Australia. Being able to carry that in the Indigenous round means a lot to me.
“The Pizza Hut Camaro looks amazing and having the Googar totem with us in Darwin can only be a good thing.”
The Darwin Triple Crown kicks off on June 16.