SWISS ace Simona De Silvestro ranks as one of the most talented female drivers in the motor sport industry, but when she makes her Bathurst 1000 debut next Sunday she wants to be judged the same as her male counterparts.

That is an approach which the 26-year-old has long held, and thus far it has served her well.

The woman nicknamed the ‘Iron Maiden’ has a lengthy motor sport resume, including being the Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year in 2010 and an affiliate driver for Formula 1 team Sauber last year.

“For me, especially being a girl in racing, at the end of the day we’ve always said when wearing a helmet we have to be judged as a race car driver, and I think I’ve been able to achieve that because I’ve always been able to win races in the series I’ve been in, expect in IndyCar,” De Silvestro said

“I think that’s an important part, at the end of the day we just try to do the best job we can in the race car.”

While currently contracted as a Formula E driver for Andretti Autosport, next week De Silvestro joins Australian Renee Gracie behind the wheel of a Ford Falcon V8 as a Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry.

The pair will take the tally of women who have competed in the Great Race to 33, following in the footsteps of drivers such as Lorraine Hill, who contested the inaugural Bathurst race in 1963.

They will form the first all-female combination to tackle the Bathurst 1000 since Melinda Price and Kerry Brewer in 1998.

While Gracie has raced at Mount Panorama before, being part of the Porsche Carrera Cup series which acted as a support category to the V8’s last October, De Silvestro will drive here for the first time.

Still, De Silvestro is well aware of the reputation of the 6.213 kilometre circuit.

“I am really excited to be racing in Bathurst, I think it is a great opportunity for me. I’ve always kind of seen that race track and seen that race and wanted to be part of it, so it’s great that I am going to be able to do that this year,” she said.

“I am a pretty big fan, especially when I was in the US I followed V8 Supercars quite a lot. It’s actually funny because the Bathurst event is the first time I actually watched a race on TV. The cars look like a lot of fun to drive and I am looking forward to it.

“I think the Bathurst track looks really interesting, really hilly and things like that. I’ve raced in Europe and some of the tracks kind of have some familiarities, but I really look forward to it.”

The plan is for De Silvestro and Gracie to contest the Bathurst 1000 again next year, but for now the pair are solely focused on next week.

“I think it’s really special, the plan is to do it for the next two years,” De Silvestro said.

“Right now the focus is on the first race we are going to have here, and hopefully it will go really well for us.”