THE first all-female V8 Supercars team in 18 years caused a stir at yesterday’s driver signing session.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Renee Gracie and Simona de Silvestro have teamed up to race in a Ford Falcon FG X, prepared by powerhouse team Prodrive Racing Australia, for this year’s Great Race.
The Harvey Norman Supergirls entry is the first all-female team since Melinda Price and Kerryn Brewer in 1997. The duo’s driving number is 200 – honouring Bathurst’s bicentenary.
Ms Gracie, 20, began racing go-karts when she was 13 and only turned to racing cars three years ago.
“Nothing prepares you for this,” she said of her Mount Panorama debut.
“There’s a lot we have to learn and get used to, but if we do the job well the result can be good in the end.”
- Simona de Silvestro
Swiss born Ms de Silvestro, 27, has been racing cars for many years, but is more familiar with open-wheelers and IndyCars than V8 Supercars.
Nicknamed ‘Iron Maiden’, she has been racing in the Andretti Autosport’s number 29 Honda in the 2015 IndyCar Series season.
Yesterday she said she was excited to tackle the challenging Mount Panorama race circuit.
“It’s exciting to be here in Bathurst, it’s a really great race,” Ms de Silvestro said.
“There’s a lot we have to learn and get used to, but if we do the job well the result can be good in the end.”
She said the all-female team was good for motorsport and the race.
Thousands of race fans attended the driver signing session in Church Street, off Kings Parade.
Among the fans at the first of two driver signing sessions was 11-year-old Lewis Buhagiar and his mother, Jeanette.
The pair have travelled from Windsor in western Sydney for the weekend.
A competitive go kart driver himself at Butterfly Farm Kart Track, Lewis has his sights set on V8 Supercars when he grows up.
Yesterday he brought a panel from his own go kart to have it signed by his heroes, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.
“I think they’ll be going for three in a row,” he said of Sunday’s race result.
Yesterday’s two driver signing sessions were part of the Super Wednesday celebrations following the transporter and driver parade up William Street to the Mount Panorama race track.