Aussie Racing Car competitor Charlotte Poynting will be the first driver on track in the inaugural Newcastle 500 — and she will not be the only female getting behind the wheel.
Poynting won the public vote to be the first driver on the loop.
"It's a history-making thing that I'm going to have with me forever," she said.
The 19-year old from Warners Bay, in the NSW Hunter region, is racing in her first full season in the Aussie Racing Cars division, and no matter her result this weekend, she's already secured the Women's Championship.
The teenage is very much inspired by another female driver — Simona De Silvestro from Switzerland.
"She's a great role model for anyone really, not just girls coming through, she's definitely one of my main role models and someone I look up to," Poynting said.
De Silvestro is just ending the season as the first full-time female Supercar Championship driver, just two years after she first raced in Bathurst 1000 as a wild card.
This year's Bathurst 1000, where she was in ninth place before crashing out, was her "best moment, even though the finish wasn't good".
"It was the first time I went back to a track that I knew and knew what to expect and it showed, we had really good pace," she said.
De Silvestro said she hopes she inspires women to do what they want to.
"I think motorsport is just such a good sport to show anything is possible, because if you look at it there are 26 cars and one girl in it," she said.
"I think for different careers, if a young girl wants to be an electrician or something like that, don't be afraid, just go for it and do what you're passionate about."
The 29-year-old is a veteran of open-wheel cars, racing in IndyCar and Formula E, and says the saloon-style Supercar has taken some getting used to.
"All of a sudden everything you've learned you can't really use," she said.
"These cars, they're quite tricky cars to drive so that took a little bit of time to really adjust to it."
De Silvestro thinks the new track could be a benefit for her.
"It's the first time this year where for everybody it's a new place so hopefully the practice I've had the whole year with learning tracks is going to favour me," she said.
The Newcastle 500 will run from Friday to Sunday.
