Indigenous racing team announces new sponsors and inaugural scholarship recipient

Dianne Bortoletto Published March 4, 2025 at 5.00pm (AWST)

racing together

Image: Rebecca Hind

Indigenous racing team, Racing Together, has announced its inaugural Toyota 86 Scholarship Series participant, 16-year-old Kade Davey, a descendant of the Mandjindja tribe from the central desert of Western Australia.

The series consists of five race meetings, each with three practice runs, one qualifying and three races, each race is ten laps.

In the first race of the series held at 4.4-kilometre Phillip Island circuit, Davey finished Race 1 on the podium in third, narrowly missed a podium placing fourth in Race 2, and placed 23rd in Race 3 after he was pushed off the track at the start.

In a field of 40 drivers, Davey's results bode well for promising season. His goal: to finish the series in the top five.

Racing Together car at Phillip Island, ocean in background — Racing Together car at Phillip Island. Image: supplied

"I'm a third-generation racer, my pop raced, my dad raced karts for 25 years and a part of me just wanted to continue to represent Indigenous racers," said Davey, an apprentice mechanic.

"My aspiration is to be the first Indigenous Supercars driver and inspire Indigenous people into motorsport and give back to my community as much as I can."

At the end of 2023, Davey's family, his mother, father, younger brother and sister, moved from Perth to the Gold Coast when Davey was selected to drive for Racing Together.

The brainchild of Motorsport Australia Award of Merit recipient Garry Connelly AM and his wife Monique, Racing Together is a not-for-profit charity that aims to encourage Indigenous participation in motorsport, with the ultimate objective being a career in the industry.

Davey raced go-karts for eight years, then raced in the Queensland Excel Series with Racing Together in 2024, and this year has stepped up to national Toyota 86 Scholarship Series.

The young driver is supported by long-term partner Weet-Bix and new sponsor Carey Mining. They join team sponsors Supercheap Auto, National Storage, Norwell Motorplex, Triple Eight Race Engineering, Dick Johnson Racing, Motorsport Australia, Riedel Communications and PWR.

Executive General Manager of Sanitarium Health Food Company Australia and New Zealand, Todd Saunders, said Weet-Bix is proud to support Davey and the Racing Together project.

"We have had a long association with Davey and believe the Racing Together project is an ideal initiative that provides him and other young First Nation boys and girls a pathway to careers in motorsport."

Karlai Warner, Kade Davey, Racing Together — Racing Together drivers Karlai Warner and Kade Davey. Image: Carina Napier

Carey Mining CEO Moses Panashe said he was proud to support a promising young talent and to continue to be a part of Davey's motorsport career.

"Sponsoring him [Davey] and Racing Together is not just an investment in motorsport, but in the future of Indigenous involvement in the sport itself."

Alongside Davey at Racing Together, young female racer Karlai Warner will compete in Excels and Production Touring Cars, highlighting the program's proven pathways for getting Indigenous drivers into race seats.

The next round of Toyota 86 Scholarship Series will be at the at Sydney Motorsport Park and Queensland Raceway, before joining the Motorsport Australia Series again in Queensland at Morgan Park Raceway. The Series will finish off on August 22-24 at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park for the South Australian Motor Racing Championship.