'Sex sells': Renee Gracie slams Supercars' attitude to women

Former Supercars driver turned adult entertainer Renee Gracie has taken a potshot at the racing series as it prepares for the Bathurst 1000, saying the sport’s attempts to support women were all for show.

Gracie grabbed headlines earlier in 2020 when she announced her move into the adult industry through content-sharing platform OnlyFans, with the 25-year-old reportedly earning as much as $500,000 a month through subscriptions to her page.

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Since the career switch Gracie has become increasingly vocal about her time in Supercars, which was highlighted by her and Simona De Silvestro’s history-making all-female pairing at the 2015 Bathurst 1000.

Despite holding a unique place in Supercars history, Gracie told the Daily Telegraph she felt the sport’s attempts to promote women were hollow, given it still relies heavily on the ‘sex sells’ aspect of advertising.

Gracie also noted the irony of the sport allegedly wanting nothing to do with her since she moved into the adult industry.

“For years I raced in development series and Supercars wanted to promote that I was a woman racing,” she said.

“I was this ‘sex sells’ figure. They wanted to benefit from it.

“Now I’m in the industry I am, and I’ve made the change, they want nothing to do with it.”

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Gracie and De Silvestro finished the Great Race twice, placing 21st in 2015 and following it up with 14th in 2016, before the tandem split.

De Silvestro remained in Supercars until 2019, before switching to GT racing in Europe.

There haven’t been any female drivers since, and Gracie is not convinced Supercars is doing what it should to get more women on the grid.

“They claim to promote women. They push it. They want a female so bad, but at the same time, they don’t really,” she said.

“There are people in Supercars with old school mentalities. It’s 2020 some things have to change.

“It’s a tough industry for women, and I don’t think we will see a female driver for a long time.”

Supercars made a brief comment about Gracie after her career switch made headlines earlier in the year, distancing the category from the former driver.

“Supercars is aware of the article regarding former Super2 driver Renee Gracie,’’ a spokesman said.

“As Ms Gracie is no longer competing in Super2, Supercars will not be commenting further.”

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