Female participation in motorsport still pales in comparison to their male counterparts across all levels, but more initiatives to narrow the gap are becoming more common.<\/p>\n
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2023 SpeedSere, featuring Will Power, Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon.<\/strong><\/em> All the action streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The all-female, Formula 3-based W Series has seemingly come and gone with the Formula 4 F1 Academy taking its place.\u00a0<\/p>\n Motorsport Australia has made moves with the FIA Girls on Track program, which targets participation across all levels of the sport, not just behind the wheel.<\/p>\n In her teens, Renee Gracie was one of only a handful competing in Australia, though that never really bothered her.<\/p>\n She and Simona De Silvestro remain the most recent women to compete in the Supercars Championship and became the first all-female pair since Melinda Price and Kerryn Brewer in 1998 to contest the Bathurst 1000.<\/p>\n After two starts in the Bathurst 1000, Gracie left the sport she'd invested so much money and time into \u2013 \ufeffturning her attention to a career in the adult film industry.<\/p>\n Seven years on from her last competitive outing, the 28-year-old has returned to the sport she fell out of love with.<\/p>\n Gracie's return to racing by way of GT World Challenge Australia as part of the SpeedSeries<\/a> comes with extra incentive and a push to promote female empowerment after her own struggles.<\/p>\n A comeback to motorsport has been made harder with her history in the adult film industry making many turn away.<\/p>\n "I think that comes naturally with this," Gracie said of her drive for female empowerment, speaking with Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n "I feel like I've never, ever, ever in my life with all this racing stuff tried to be someone who is all about female empowerment.\u00a0<\/p>\n "I don't want to make it over the top. I don't wanna shove it down people's throats.<\/p>\n "I feel like it just comes naturally with the movement and with what I do and that's what I like," she added.<\/p>\n "I make moves knowing that's gonna come with it, but I don't throw it in people's faces.\u00a0<\/p>\n "I want it to just be something that people see, get, understand, and they feel empowered from watching, listening, and seeing it happen. That's how I've always been.\ufeff<\/p>\n "I feel like now, especially with how I've been treated and things that have happened, I feel right now I probably will push it a bit more because I feel I learnt the hard way of how hard it is and getting back into it and doing this.<\/p>\n "I feel like it deserves to be pushed a little bit more because of everything that I've been through. To this day I see females racing and I see other girls racing and I'm like, 'oh, I can only imagine how hard it's been for them'.\u00a0<\/p>\n "That's my thought, which it shouldn't be. So I feel like this time around, I think things will be pushed and done a little bit differently."<\/p>\n Gracie said she has goals and ambitions to promote female participation but admits getting on the grid was the first priority.<\/p>\n That in itself has proved to be difficult with many opponents in the pit lane.<\/p>\n "There's been so much to get this across the line," she said.<\/p>\n "I feel like just getting a car, team, getting onto a track, getting into a race, and seeing what unfolds and what happens because I feel like there's gonna be a lot that comes of everything that's gonna happen this year.<\/p>\n "I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know where it's gonna take me. I feel like I do have small dreams and goals and things that I think about quite often, but I really feel like it could be a bit of a tornado and who knows where it could end up and what could happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n "I'm taking it as it goes and if opportunities present itself, then obviously I'll take them far as details go. It's been so long in the making. I just can't wait to finally have everything out there locked in and loaded and ready to go."<\/p>\n Gracie has signalled an interest to contest the Bathurst 1000 later this year.<\/p>\n Her next competitive appearance will come at round two of GT World Challenge Australia at Phillip Island\ufeff on May 12-14.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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![\"Gracie](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/275bdb5c-db25-43a4-bae3-0728c5f16327-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Renee](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/edbb2dce-f665-4a73-87a9-fd0b0c2c541e-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gracie](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/30f42a93-a829-4b7d-a3ff-0393f3aa8707-scaled.jpg\")
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