Pither's charitable cause to support Indigenous youth

PremAir Racing and Coca-Cola have bolstered its commitment to Supercars’ inaugural Indigenous Round, raising funds for Aboriginal charity, Bridge the Gap Foundation.

Coca-Cola Racing’s Chris Pither is set to donate his race boots from the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown to the designer of his Indigenous livery, Aboriginal artist Kiewa Tya Austin-Rioli.

Austin-Rioli, a Gunditjmara and Tiwi Islander woman, owns and runs the Sweet Water Art design studio.

To celebrate Austin-Rioli’s livery, Coca-Cola and Pither have teamed up to donate his race boots in support of her chosen charity, the Bridging the Gap Foundation. 

The Bridging the Gap Foundation works hard to address one of Australia's most urgent issues; the gap in health and education opportunities and outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Find out more here. 

For Pither, it was important to say thank you to Austin-Rioli for her striking design.

“Kiewa’s design looks absolutely amazing,” Pither said.

“To try and say thank you and to give back, I’m giving my race boots that I utilise this weekend to give to Kiewa for her to auction off to the charity of her choice.”

“I’ve chosen Bridging the Gap,” Austin-Rioli added.

“For every $5,000 they raise they send an Aboriginal kid to college.

“They pay for their scholarship so they can go to college.

“It’s something I’m super passionate about, about educating our young people and giving them the best chance that they can have.

“Thank you to Chris for doing this.”

To view the auction, click here.

Supercars return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying for Race 16 at 12.15pm on Saturday.