Female driver duo confirmed for the 2015 Bathurst 1000

For the first time since 1997 an all-female duo will take part in the Bathurst 1000 race as Simona de Silvestro and Renee Gracie has been confirmed to share a Prodrive Racing Australia prepared Ford Falcon.

”The Bathurst 1000 race was actually the first V8 Supercars race that I ever watched and it looked amazing. The track looks great from what I have seen on TV. It looks really challenging and I can’t wait to see it for real and to drive around it,” said de Silvestro.

De Silvestro is currently competing with a partial programme in the IndyCar Series and tested for the Sauber F1 team last year. Team-mate Gracie is currently racing in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series, currently placed 19th, and raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia for the past two seasons.

“To be paired up with a high-profile international female like Simona, who I really look up to, is incredible. So to say I am excited would be a complete understatement,” said Gracie.

While Gracie has raced the current generation V8 Supercars in the Dunlop feeder series, de Silvestro will start from scratch.

“For me the biggest challenge is to get used to V8 Supercar – most of my career I’ve been racing in open wheel racing. But I’m going to get some testing done before so I can get comfortable. Especially the Bathurst track will be a big challenge, but I’ll work hard, work on a simulator and things like that to get used to the track. Hopefully for the race I think we’ll be really well prepared to have a good result at the end,” said de Silvestro.

De Silvestro, from Switzerland, and Gracie, from Australia, is the second confirmed wildcard entry for Bathurst alongside brothers Aaren and Drew Russell.