A motorsports program is helping Indigenous driver put the pedal to the metal

Competitors are preparing for this weekend’s Queensland State Circuit Racing Championships at Morgan Park, but for one team the event is extra special.

Gunya Meta Indigenous Mentor Michael Orcher and racing candidates Breeanna Oui and Malachi Green (Supplied: Racing Together).

While drivers have competed at Warwick’s premier Morgan Park Raceway for decades, one program is helping a new team take to the track for the first time.

Members from the Indigenous motorsports team Racing Together will have their sights set on pole position when they compete in round two of the Hyundai Excel Series X3 Queensland Championships this weekend.

The program, which launched in August last year, is the creation of Formula 1 racing steward Garry Connelly.

Connelly said he was prompted to start the Racing Together program after he realised the low number of Indigenous competitors in motorsport.

Garry Connelly with Gunya Meta Indigenous Mentor Michael Orche and Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris (Photo: Racing Together Facebook/R6 Digital).

“Australia’s Indigenous population is around 3.3 per cent, which means we should have over 1000 Indigenous competitors in motorsport,” he said.

“I’d be surprised if we had 10 outside of this program.”

Connelly said they teamed with Indigenous mentoring program Gunya Meta to get the world out about the program and to help select team members.

“We had almost 100 applicants,” he said.

The close-knit team of 10 has since been spending almost every weekend at Norwell Motor Complex in Logan, south of Brisbane, honing their racing skills.

The team spends their weekends working on their two racing cars.

Seventeen-year-old Tristan Mitchell-Delaney said his role as team manager came with a lot of responsibility.

“You have to do everything from booking accommodation, to learning everyone’s role in case they’re not there.”

Tristan said part of his job also meant he had to keep the peace but said that was a relatively easy task, saying the team enjoyed working together.

Already a part of several Indigenous community groups, Tristan thought it was worth a shot to apply for the team when he first heard about.

“I’ve always loved Formula 1, but I’ve never really focused on Excel races,” Tristan said.

“The program showed me more pathways (in motorsport).”

The teen said one of the highlights of his racing career so far was meeting racing legend Dick Johnson.

Off the racetrack, Tristan said the program has help him focus more and used the team’s time together on weekends as a way to relax.

“My driving has improved too, it’s a lot more controlled.”

Tristan said that team had its sights set on finishing all their races at this weekend’s event.

Connelly said the program’s next goal was to secure funding to start the process of a nationwide rollout.