It was 2020 when Monique and Garry Connelly were crunching the numbers.
More than 30,000 people in 2019 were employed or indirectly associated with motorsport in Australia, according to an Ernst & Young report.
"And none of them were Indigenous," Garry Connelly told AAP.
Connelly, Australia's representative at the FIA and a long-time motorsport administrator, had been bugged by the statistic for 10 years.
"If you think of the fact that the Indigenous population of Australia is roughly 3 per cent, then mathematically you should have about 1000 Indigenous people working in motorsport," Connelly said.
"We couldn't find one."
Stream free On Demand
Car Racing
episode • Dreaming Big • documentary • 30m
PG
episode • Dreaming Big • documentary • 30m
PG
Australia's top motor racing series Supercars, originally known as the Australian Touring Car Championship, has been contested annually since 1960.
Not one driver known to have Indigenous heritage has raced in the championship. Brad Jones Racing's Jaxon Evans, whose birth family hails from Fiji, is Supercars' first Pasifika driver.
This is where seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and father Anthony come into the picture.
Ferrari racer Hamilton, 40, is the only Black driver to compete in F1 since its inception in 1950.
Connelly, also an F1 race steward, said discussions with Hamilton about diversity in motorsport had planted the idea of sponsoring one Indigenous kid.
"Then Lewis's father, Anthony - who was the driving force behind Lewis's career when he started - said, 'No, you should really form a team of 10 kids'," Connelly said.
"'Get them all involved, and that way you'll give 10 people an opportunity rather than just one'."
So the Connellys formed the Racing Together team in late October 2020 to give young Indigenous talents a pathway into motorsport, on and off the track.
The first step was to host an open day at Queensland's Norwell Motorplex with non-profit organisation Gunya Meta.
Karlai Warner, then 14, was one of 100 kids to rock up that day and jump into a race car after much insistence from sister Tayla.
The 18-year-old now drives for Racing Together in the Hyundai Excel category and is set to compete in the Toyota 86 Scholarship Series next year.
"I hadn't even watched an F1 race or a Supercars race," Warner told AAP.
"I was very sporty growing up. I played netball, basketball, but motorsport was definitely not on my radar then.
"No one in my family was into motorsport … but Tayla, she just wanted to drive a car that weekend."
Warner, a Kabi Kabi and Wakka Wakka woman featured in the new series Dreaming Big, had never even been in a race car or go-kart.
"She just outshone all the other girls and boys in the whole 100 by a country mile," Connelly said.
Fellow Racing Together driver Kade Davey's journey started differently.
The Martu Manyjilyjarra man took after his father Todd and had been go-karting since he was eight.
The 17-year-old was the only Indigenous driver growing up in Lake Coogee, just south of Fremantle in Western Australia.
"It's always been a dream to be in Supercars, but, like, financially, I just didn't think it was going to happen," Davey told AAP.
Davey took a punt and sent an email to the Connellys in 2023 after being encouraged by former Supercars endurance co-driver Michael Patrizi.
He subsequently impressed after being invited for a test drive at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich.
"My family and I weren't sure what was going to happen and whether it's going to come off or not," Davey said.
"When we got the call saying that I was going to be in Racing Together, my whole family and I, we all moved.
"We lived in a caravan park for about five months before we found a place.
"For myself, really the only Indigenous karting driver growing up, I want to represent the Indigenous population in karting and car racing."
Warner and Davey are mentored by 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris, who has also coached one-time Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki and current series leader Broc Feeney.
Davey became the first Indigenous driver to lead a national motor racing series, doing so in the Toyota 86 Scholarship Series this year before finishing third overall.
The West Australian product also races in the GR Cup.
"We could tell straight from the start that he had something and we decided to immediately promote him into the team," Connelly said.
"From a driving perspective, most of it is expensive, right? A lot of these kids either haven't got both parents or they've got both parents, but they can't afford to do it.
"The second thing is one of perception (of race)."
Racing Together's impact goes beyond getting more drivers on the grid, with eight out of the initial intake of 10 kids employed in the motorsport industry.
Warner works as a receptionist and driving instructor at Norwell, while Davey is an apprentice mechanic.
A new team based in Townsville has been set up, with plans to expand to Darwin.
"We have multiple team members that have gone on to get engineering or mechanics jobs at either Triple Eight or Dick Johnson Racing," Davey said.
"It's just really cool to see. It's still happening, and it's going to keep getting better."
Warner and Davey readily admit the road to the main game is long and difficult, but believe the prospect of an Indigenous driver on the Supercars grid is now a matter of "when and how", no longer an "if''.
"Our journeys are so different," Warner said.
"I am hoping Kade does get to Supercars, and if I do as well, that's even better.
"We can have two."
Dreaming Big airs Fridays 7.30pm on NITV and is available to stream now On Demand.
