After one of the coldest events for the season, the Repco Supercars Championship calendar is now gearing up for one of the hottest and most significant. 
  
Adored by teams, drivers and the fans and drivers, the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown is the next stop for a Supercars season ready to reach its midway point. 
  
Taking place at the Hidden Valley Raceway, the weekend will mark a historic moment for Supercars history as it holds its first official Indigenous round. 
  
There will be multiple ways Australia’s Indigenous culture will be celebrated and teams have released special liveries featuring Indigenous artwork – each carefully designed and telling a story.
  
In addition to the liveries, the top three place getters for all three races will receive bespoke didgeridoo-inspired trophies for the efforts, while the outright winner will be awarded the Triple Crown. 
  
Each didgeridoo was specially designed by heralded Aboriginal artists Trent Lee, Josef Petterson, Les (Lipuwurrunga) Huddleston and Tony (Duwun) Lee – Trent also designed the Shield awarded to the outright Crown winner. 
  
Click here for more information on the trophies.  
  
Another special feature across the weekend will be the Racing Together’s appearance in the Combined Sedans support category. 
  
The not-for-profit organisation was created to provide a pathway into motorsport for teenage girls and boys of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, and this weekend will see two of the program’s mechanics and its driver Braedyn Cidoni take to the circuit for the second consecutive year.  

  
“Last year was challenging, but I know my way around the Hidden Valley track now and we have much more experience with our car,” he said. 
  
“I’m looking forward to a great weekend on and off the track. It will be great to be part of the Indigenous Round celebrations and show the Territory locals what Racing Together is all about.” 
  
The round itself is special for the fact that not many drivers over the course of its history have won the Crown with a perfect weekend of pole position and a clean sweep of wins– the most recent being Scott McLaughlin back in 2019. 
  
McLaughlin was a dominant force at the circuit between 2017 and 2019 before departing to the US and since his deptaure,  Shane van Gisbergen has become the driver to beat. 
  
The Kiwi has, without a doubt, set the benchmark in recent years and Hidden Valley has also proved a happy hunting ground for him too, having won there twice last year. 
  
Yet van Gisbergen has shown that he does have a chink in his armour, with Chaz Mostert having claimed the Crown last year thanks to his consistent weekend, while Cam Waters finally beat him twice at Winton last month. 
  
However, like all sports, every round is different and there will be plenty of things to look out for this weekend. 
  
Unlike the Championship’s previous two rounds where they were visiting circuits for the first time since 2019, Hidden Valley has remained on the calendar meaning many of the drivers have driven it before. 
  
However, there are still some drivers enjoying their first runs at the popular track, with Broc Feeney the most notable. 
  
The other two drivers who enter as wildcards are Jayden Ojeda lining up for the second consecutive round, while Zak Best will make his solo full-time debut. 
  
The round format will be much the same as many of the sprint rounds this year with a three-stage qualifying session to set up Saturday’s sole race before a further two races are held on Sunday. 
  
Joining the Combined Sedans as support categories will be the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship (and Motorsport Australia Gold Star), the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia and the Australian Superbike Championship. 
  
Click here to view a full schedule. 
  
The Merlin Darwin Triple Crown takes place at Hidden Valley Raceway on 17-19 June.  

Championship Top 10 (after Pizza Hut Winton Supersprint)

1. Shane van Gisbergen - 1376 points
2. Anton De Pasquale - 1095
3. Cameron Waters - 1043
4. Will Davison - 1018
5. David Reynolds - 966
6. Chaz Mostert - 947
7. Broc Feeney - 887
8. Brodie Kostecki - 865
9. Tim Slade - 767
10. James Courtney - 764 

Schedule

Friday 17 June
10:50am - 11:20am: Practice 1
2:05pm - 2:35pm: Practice 2 

Saturday 18 June
11:45am-12:50pm Armor All Qualifying Race 16
3:25pm-4:25pm: Race 16

Sunday 19 June
8:35am - 8:45am: Armor All Qualifying Race 17
8:50am - 9:00am: Armor All Qualifying Race 18
11:55am - 12:55pm: Race 17
3:25pm - 4:25pm: Race 18

Entry List