As of 2025, thirty-five female drivers have attempted the Bathurst 1000 – an annual endurance race for touring cars considered Australia's most prestigious [1] – since its inception in 1960. [2] Initially held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit over 500 miles, the race moved to Mount Panorama/Wahluu in 1963 and was expanded to 1000 kilometres in 1973. [3]
The first female competitors in "the Great Race" were Anne Bennett, Diane Leighton and Pam Murison, who shared a Simca Aronde to 3rd in class in the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island. [4] [5] Lorraine Hill was the first to compete in the race after its shift to Bathurst, finishing 16th in class in 1963. Following a four-year gap with no female competitors, Jane Richardson and Midge Whiteman finished 4th in class in 1967 before Whiteman paired up with Christine Cole to finish 5th in class the following year. In 1969, a record six female drivers participated in the race, led by Diane Dickson and her husband Max driving a Ford Cortina to 31st outright. In 1970, Cole and Sandra Bennett finished 13th outright in a Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1, the best result for a female pairing to that point, before Pat Peck became the only woman to attempt the race solo in 1972. [6]
The 1000km era began poorly for the female contingent, with both all-female teams (Sue Ransom/Christine Cole and Pat Peck/Darrylyn Huitt) failing to make it past 5 laps in 1973. Fortunes changed for 1975, as all three female drivers finished and Frenchwoman Marie-Claude Beaumont claimed the best outright finish for a female driver (as of 2025) with 6th in an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, before all three women entered in 1976 failed to finish. In 1977, Janet Guthrie – who had become the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 a few months earlier – joined Johnny Rutherford in an all-American entry, however Rutherford crashed into an earth bank after only 13 laps. [7] Ransom and Alexandra Surplice made sporadic appearances towards the end of the Group C touring car era in lower-class cars, however Christine Gibson (née Cole) equalled Beaumont's 6th-place in the crash-shortened 1981 race. For the 1987 edition, held as part of the World Touring Car Championship under Group A regulations, Annette Meeuvissen and Mercedes Stermitz shared a BMW but retired from the race with gearbox problems. [8] New Zealander Heather Spurle was the only other female Group A competitor, finishing 26th in 1990 with Bob Jones, before Tania Gulson and Melinda Price contested the lower classes in 1993 and 1994 respectively. [9]
Women competed on both sides of the Super Touring/V8 split in the late-1990s – Jenni Thompson contested both Super Touring races, and was joined by Paula Elstrek and Heidi O'Neill in 1998, whilst Perkins Engineering formed the "Castrol Cougars" for Price and Kerryn Brewer to compete in the V8 editions; the "Cougars" claimed the best finish for an all-female team as of 2025 with 11th in the 1998 V8 race. [10] Nicole Pretty was also entered in the 1998 V8 race, sharing a Holden Commodore VS with her brother Nathan, but did not get to drive following alternator failure. After the Cougars were disbanded, Price competed for another two years with privateer team Clive Wiseman Racing, finishing 17th in 1999, before Leanne Ferrier failed to finish the 2001 V8 Supercar 1000 having collided with Nathan Pretty. [11] Ferrier would not return to the Bathurst 1000 until 2009, sharing a Ford Falcon FG with David Wall and finishing 18th. [12]
Six years later, Simona de Silvestro and Renee Gracie participated in a two-year "wildcard" program in 2015 and 2016. [13] The duo finished 40 laps down in their first foray after Gracie crashed at Forrest Elbow, before improving to 14th and two laps down a year later. De Silvestro joined the category as a full-time driver for three years from 2017 with Nissan, scoring a best Great Race result of 13th in 2019 alongside Alex Rullo, before returning for a one-off start in 2023 with Dick Johnson Racing after the COVID-19 pandemic – the Swiss' 20th-place finish with Kai Allen remains the most recent participation for a female driver. [14] [15]
| Country | First | Drivers | Best result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright | Class | |||
 Australia | 1962 | 29 | 6th | 3rd |
 Austria | 1987 | 1 | DNF | DNF |
 France | 1975 | 1 | 6th | 1st |
 New Zealand | 1990 | 1 | 26th | 21st |
 Switzerland | 2015 | 1 | 13th | — |
 United States | 1977 | 1 | DNF | DNF |
 West Germany | 1987 | 1 | DNF | DNF |
| Year | Drivers | Entry | Car | Class | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright | Class | |||||
| 1962 | Anne Bennett Diane Leighton Pam Murison | Eiffel Tower Group Pty. Ltd. | Simca Aronde | C | 19th | 3rd |
| 1967 | Jane Richardson Midge Whiteman | Everybody's Magazine | Morris 1100S | B | 36th | 4th |
| 1968 | Christine Cole Midge Whiteman | P & R Williams | Morris Mini DeLuxe | A | 41st | 5th |
| 1969 | Carole Corness Ann Thomson | Grand Prix Auto Services | Morris Cooper S | C | DNF | DNF |
| Christine Cole Lynne Keefe | Brian Foley Motors Pty. Ltd. | Fiat 125 | C | DNF | DNF | |
| 1970 | Sandra Bennett Christine Cole | Holden Dealer Team | Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1 | C | 13th | 8th |
| Carole Corness Gloria Taylor | Woman's Day | Ford Escort Mk.1 1300 | A | 42nd | 12th | |
| 1971 | Jan Holland Pat Peck | D&P Traders Pty. Ltd. | Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1 | C | 29th | 3rd |
| 1972 | Christine Cole Jan Holland | Pacific Film Laboratories Pty. Ltd. | Holden Torana LJ 2850 | B | DNF | DNF |
| Pat Peck | D&P Traders Pty. Ltd. | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | C | DNF | DNF | |
| 1973 | Christine Cole Sue Ransom | Grace Bros. Racing Team | Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV | B | DNF | DNF |
| Darrylyn Huitt Pat Peck | D&P Traders Pty. Ltd. | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | D | DNF | DNF | |
| 1976 | Marie-Claude Charmasson Christine Gibson | Brian Foley Pty. Ltd. | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTAm | 1301-2000cc | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Annette Meeuvissen Mercedes Stermitz | BMW Motorsport [c] | BMW M3 (E30) | 2 | DNF | DNF |
| 1997 (V8) | Kerryn Brewer Melinda Price | Castrol Cougars | Holden Commodore VS | — | 12th | — |
| 1998 (V8) | Kerryn Brewer Melinda Price | Castrol Cougars | Holden Commodore VS | — | 11th | — |
| 2015 | Simona de Silvestro Renee Gracie | Harvey Norman Supergirls | Ford Falcon FG X | — | 21st | — |
| 2016 | Simona de Silvestro Renee Gracie | Harvey Norman Supergirls | Nissan Altima L33 | — | 14th | — |
Simca numbers increased again with four Arondes entered including the all-female driver pairing of Diane Leighton and Ann Bennett. If the 'girls' were included as a strategy by Simca dealers to increase the Aronde's appeal for female drivers they must have been delighted with their result, as the Leighton/Bennett Simca was the only one of the four to finish the race and in an excellent third in class behind the winning Renault Gordini and runner-up Morris Major Elite.