The push to have more women in motorsport is gaining momentum with this week's news that the Harvey Norman Supergirls team will return to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, this year driving for Nissan Motorsport.
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Simona De Silvestro and Renee Grace raced in last year's Bathurst 1000 driving a Holden Commodore for Triple Eight Racing, and will return to Mount Panorama for this year's race in a Nissan Altima wildcard entry.
It is great to see the team co-owners Todd and Rick Kelly get right behind the Bathurst classic, for this year will be the largest ever factory Nissan assault on the Great Race, with five Altimas set to take to the grid.
What is even more news for women, is that De Silvestro will join the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship in 2017 as a full time driver.
The 28-year-old has raced IndyCar and Formula E driver is a world class driver, and has signed a three-year agreement to race in Supercars.
What was not mentioned in the announcement, was what team she will drive for, but it was rumoured Prodrive Racing were showing interest, though looking ahead to the Bathurst enduro and the Harvey Norman Supergirls Team, it would be a great test weekend.
Meanwhile, Nissan Motorsport Team Co-Owner Todd Kelly said he was looking forward to expanding the team for the 1000km event.
"It’s really exciting to have a fifth Altima running at Bathurst this year. We know what it’s like to run the wildcard at Bathurst, and have done it well in the past, so we’re confident we can do a good job," he said.
The announcement comes at a time when the Nissan outfit has taken on responsibility for running Nissan GT-R’s in the Australian GT Championship. However, the added workload should not impact the team’s ability to compete.
The Sandown 500 to be run as opening round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup has stolen a march on our Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with their event being the ‘Retro Round’.
Some wonderful liveries being shown, and one that has tickled my fancy is from our good friends at Albury, home of the only team regionally based and the only NSW operation, Brad Jones Racing.
The livery on their Team BOC Holden which will be driven by regular driver Jason Bright and enduro co-driver Andrew Jones has a unique past in comparison to the other retro cars that will be at Sandown, as this car is an important part of the Jones brothers’ history.
The livery was a last minute decision for the Jones brothers to pay tribute to one of Brad Jones championship winning AUSCARs.
