MITS students given insight into Penrite Racing

Melbourne Indigenous Transition School students have helped deliver Penrite Racing’s Indigenous livery.

Penrite Racing revealed its striking livery for the forthcoming Merlin Darwin Triple Crown on Tuesday.

Penrite-backed Supercars and Superbikes will carry artwork designed by Darwin-born Indigenous artist Lorraine Kabbindi White.

She is also MITS Boarding House Manager, with MITS a team partner of the Grove squad.

MITS students visited the Grove Racing workshop in Braeside to get a closer look at the Ford Supercars and Honda Superbike.

MITS is a Year 7 transition school on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne.

The school is located inside the Richmond Football Club at Punt Road Oval.

MITS, which was formed in 2010, caters for Indigenous students from remote and regional communities in the NT and Victoria.

It has partnerships with the likes of Swinburne University, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Bangarra Dance Company and Monash University Museum of Art.

Students visited Braeside alongside Supercars drivers David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth, as well as Superbike veteran Troy Herfoss.

It comes after Reynolds, Holdsworth and Herfoss visited MITS students in their classroom last week.

There, they engaged with students about motorsport and the upcoming Indigenous Round.

"We are delighted to be partnering with the team at Penrite Racing for this year’s Indigenous Round," MITS Executive Director, Edward Tudor said.

"It is very special to be celebrating our wonderful students, their communities and their cultures while racing on Larrakia Country.

"The generosity the Penrite team have shown MITS and our students has been greatly appreciated."

The story depicted within the livery is based on Kabbindi’s artworks ‘The First Bees’ and the ‘Freshwater Mermaids’.

The day with the students was “a lot of fun” for veteran rider Herfoss, who will make his 100th start next weekend.

"It’s really cool to be supporting the Indigenous round and aligning ourselves with Penrite Racing's Supercars team again," he said.

"It was a lot of fun spending the day with Lee, Dave and the team in Melbourne during our visit to MITS.

"Partnering with the school and connecting to an organisation that supports young Aboriginal people from regional Victoria and the Darwin region who want to access education in Melbourne has been great and I am proud our teams are supporting this.

"I'm also looking forward to showing off the new livery of course."

Next weekend’s event holds added significance for Reynolds; his partner, Tahan Lew Fatt, was born and raised in Darwin.

"I love the Indigenous Round concept. We’re celebrating the oldest living culture in the world which is very cool," Reynolds said.

"My partner has rich Indigenous heritage and is from Darwin so this round has special significance for me.

"It was also good to give the MITS students a look an insight into our world at the workshop."

The 2022 season will resume in Darwin on June 17-19. Purchase your tickets now.