But having made it to the chequered flag in 21st, albeit after managing 121 of the 161 laps, the Supergirls earned some respect.

De Silvestro had only had two test days prior to her debut, while Gracie made the step up from the Dunlop development series.

Now as De Silvestro and Gracie look towards another appearance in the Great Race, some of those involved in Supercars have offered support.

Former Supercars champion James Courtney, who missed the 2015 Bathurst 1000 due to injury, thinks De Silvestro has the makings of a handy lead driver.

She forged a name for herself in IndyCar and Formula E and earlier this year, became the first female driver to score points in Formula E when placing ninth in the Long Beach ePrix.

“It’s good for our sport and I think she’s probably the pick to do it,” Courtney told supercars.com of De Silvestro.

“I grew up racing with a lot of girls – Leanne [Tander] was karting here and then when I went over to Europe racing there was Danica Patrick and we went through all the junior formulas together. 

“So I’ve done a lot of racing with girls.”

Dick Johnson, who’s DJR Team Penske entry did not finish last year’s Great Race, believes the Supergirls will be better performed this October.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how they go, but certainly if they finish the race it’d be a fantastic result,” Johnson said. 

“Because all you’ve got to do is finish, and you’re going to be somewhere fairly close to the top 15.

“I absolutely have no bones about anybody. If they have the ability, they deserve to be there.”

This year’s Bathurst 1000 race week will commence on October 6, with the Great Race on October 9.