Martu teenager Kade Davey heads to Le Mans as First Nations motorsport rises

When Kade Davey lines up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in June, it will be another milestone in what is becoming a quietly remarkable story for First Nations motorsport and for the Racing Together program that has made it possible.

Davey, 18, a proud Martu and Manyjilyjarra man originally from Western Australia, will attend the iconic endurance race on 10–14 June 2026 as a guest of Toyota, after winning the prestigious TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia Kaizen Award at the end of the 2025 season. He is the first Indigenous Australian to receive the award.

The Kaizen Award recognises continuous improvement and the spirit of excellence, not just on-track results. Toyota Australia Vice President Sean Hanley said it reflected how Davey conducted himself under pressure and treated others as much as his performance on track.

His 2025 season had been exceptional by any measure. Racing in the Toyota 86 Scholarship Series, Davey became the first Indigenous driver to lead a Motorsport Australia national motor racing series and finished the year third overall, with eight podium finishes to his name.

Davey began racing dirt karts at eight years old, won the 2023 Western Australian Karting Championship and moved to Queensland to join Racing Together – Australia’s first motorsport program dedicated to providing structured pathways for young Indigenous Australians, both as drivers and in technical and industry roles.

The program, founded by motorsport administrator Garry Connelly and mentored by 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris, extends well beyond the race seat. Multiple graduates have secured employment with Supercars teams Triple Eight Race Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing as mechanics and fabricators.

Fellow Racing Together driver Karlai Warner, 18, continues to race alongside Davey, with the program having recently expanded to a second team base in Townsville. Connelly has said the prospect of a First Nations driver on the Supercars grid is now a matter of when, not if…