Simona de Silvestro looking to make her mark in Supercars as first full-time female driver.

By Frank Ienco.

Simona de Silvestro is comfortable with the pressure and attention that will come with being the Supercars’ first full-time female driver this season.

The former IndyCar and Formula E driver is set to make history when she lines up on the grid in the championship’s opening round in Adelaide.

“I think it’s something I’m used to, because I’ve always kind of been the only female in a racing series,” de Silvestro told the ABC.

“But it’s part of it and I think at the end of the day I have to do a good job in the race car and that’s what I’m going to focus on and the rest I think it comes with it.”

The 28-year-old de Silvestro, from Switzerland, joined the Nissan Motorsport team on a three-year deal, where she will drive alongside brothers Todd and Rick Kelly, and Michael Caruso.

De Silvestro, speaking at a test day at Sydney’s Motorsport Park, admitted she had a lot to learn ahead of the season opener.

“Everything is quite new to me. I don’t know the track, for example, here in Sydney, so that was a bit of learning this morning and now also learning the car,” she said.

“The car’s quite different to what I’m used to, so just understanding all the changes, so that’s something really important and getting comfortable in the car as well.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have many test days, so I’m really [making] it count on this one.”

Supercars are not entirely foreign to de Silvestro, who has driven in the Bathurst 1000 for the past two years in an all-female team.

“You learn a little bit, but Bathurst is quite different,” she said.

“I think the track, for example here, is way more tyre management that you have to do at Bathurst and those are quite important things in this category.

“There’s little things [I’ve learnt], but I think there’s still such a big learning curve ahead of me, so I think I just really have to be on top of that and really keep working at it, and finding every time a little bit more speed.”

De Silvestro impressing all the right judges

It might be a steep learning curve, but de Silvestro efforts have impressed the Nissan crew.

“Nothing’s fazed her so far, she’s just really relaxed,” Nissan team mechanic Ed Gibbs said.

“It’s all quite new to her, she did Bathurst but that was a one-off. And she’s coming here, she’s got another three drivers in the team to deal with but she’s just getting on with it really well, she’s really happy.

“Definitely she needs to make her mark [in Adelaide], but she also needs to stay nice and relaxed and not get too flustered, because it is her first season.

“Not that I’m a professional, but it’s going to take her a while to get up to speed.

“So as long as she’s nice and relaxed, nice and steady, she’ll be fine I reckon.”

De Silvestro’s recruitment as the first full-time female driver in the Supercars era is another inroad into the male-dominated world of motorsport.

“She’s obviously done it in IndyCars for a long time,” Gibbs said.

“She’s done all sorts of other stuff as well. In a lot of other series there’s female drivers, and they’re doing really, really well.

“So I think it’s good and it’ll obviously brings a lot of publicity to the sport and also to us as well, so it’s all the better for us really.”

This post originally appeared on ABC News.