Racing Together has officially wrapped up its inaugural season of racing after completing its final round of the year at the Motorsport Australia Queensland Circuit Racing Championships.

This year saw the 10-member all-Indigenous team enjoy a successful inaugural campaign with four rounds in Series X3 Queensland, as well as in a support category during Supercars’ Indigenous round at Hidden Valley in June.

While they were unable to notch up any wins or podiums, it was a valiant effort from all 10 members, who had no previous experience in motorsport before being selected last year.

In their final race meeting for the year, driver Braedyn Cidoni managed to secure his highest qualifying position for the season with 13th, before unfortunately being sent to the back of the field post-session.

Cidoni then finished the opening race in 19th and kept his momentum going for the second race as he steered the Racing Together Excel to 12th before hitting the barrier.

The team managed to get the car back on track for the final race of the weekend, but the return didn’t last long as they were forced to retire due to steering damage sustained in race two.

Despite not finishing their final race, it was still a successful year and Racing Together Chairman Garry Connelly AM was proud of the team for its first season.

“The boys and girls have performed with exceptional dedication. They started out with virtually no knowledge of motor racing and have finished the year with many new sporting, mechanical and life skills and a great sense of satisfaction,” Connolly said.
 
“We started Racing Together to offer Indigenous young people a way into motorsport that they didn’t have before. Thanks to the efforts of the team members and the organisations and individuals who have supported Racing Together, it’s been a real success so far.
 
“Our new long-term partnership with Viva Energy will see us embark from next year on a national program to engage a further 130 Indigenous teenagers, providing them with motorsport experience, life skills education and hopefully career opportunities.
 
“From our base at Norwell Motorplex we’ll also recruit some more team members with an intake in February, run our new all-girl Racing Together kart team in conjunction with Patrizicorse and add a second Hyundai Excel for new talent.”
 
Having been a key part of the team, who built, prepared, repaired and managed the car, Cidoni was highly grateful for the opportunity.

“This was the best year of my life and we’ve all come so far since the start of the program,” Cidoni said.

The 2021 Racing Together program has officially completed for the year and will now turn to 2022 for season two.