A photo taken on October 5, 2016 shows Swiss driving ace Simona de Silvestro smiling during media interviews as she and co-driver Australian Renee Gracie prepare for the Bathurst 1000 race on the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst on October 9. When Swiss ace Simona de Silvestro and co-driver Australian Renee Gracie competed in the Bathurst 1000 "Great Race" last year as a rare all-female duo, they were labelled "pussy wagon" by a male competitor. / AFP / WILLIAM WEST / To go with AUTO-PRIX-AUS-BATHURST-WOMEN by Glenda Kwek (Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

Bathurst runner, Simona de Silvestro, has signed a multi year deal with Nissan Motorsport to contest the Supercars Championship, starting with the 2017 Clipsal 500 in March.

Hailing from Switzerland, Silvestro brings a wealth of experience to the team, and not just from her role as one of the Harvey Norman Supergirls in the Bathurst 1000, as she also has an impressive International CV after trying her hand to ategories such as Formula 1, Indycar, and Formula E.

“Today I’m announcing I’m going to be driving for Nissan Motorsport in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. I’m really excited to be joining the team, and I can’t wait for next season," said de Silvestro. “In joining Nissan Motorsport, I think the biggest thing is being a factory driver. It’s great to have the trust from Nissan Motorsport to give me the chance to drive for them. I really enjoyed driving for them at Bathurst, I really enjoyed the car, so there were a lot of things I really liked. And the team as well, it’s a great team, you see there’s a lot of potential in the team. So working with them hopefully will bring a lot of success.”

“My expectations for next year in 2017: I think it’s going to be a pretty big challenge for me. Like I’ve said before, most of my career has been in open wheel. The Nissan Altima was feeling pretty great at Bathurst, so I’m sure at the other tracks I’m going to be able to adapt a lot quicker. Learning the tracks and working with the team will be a big challenge but looking forward to it.”

Having worked closely with de Silvestro during this year’s Harvey Norman Supergirls Bathurst wildcard entry, team co-owner Todd Kelly is looking forward to providing a supportive environment as the 28-year-old Swiss star embarks on the new challenge.

“This is a big day for Nissan Motorsport,” said Kelly. “Simona’s performance at Bathurst this year was outstanding. You could see in the data the amount of potential in Simona. So next year will be very exciting.” “To have built a race team that can attract a driver of Simona’s international experience is a testament to the hard work of everyone here at Nissan Motorsport. I have been racing in Supercars since I was 17 years old and I’ve only really worked with cars from this category, so it’s great to now have someone who has experienced motorsport from all around the world. It’s exciting to be able to compare how we do things here to what Simona has experienced elsewhere.”