GRID AND BEAR IT
BEAUTY COMP GOES ONLINE
THEY have been an iconic part of the Townsville 400 from the start but there will be no local Miss Supercars finalists trackside this year after a revamp of the national competition.
The regional heats for the Miss Supercars competition have been scrapped by organisers in a favour of an online method to find contenders for the crown.
A Supercars spokesman said many of their previous contestants would be involved in the Townsville 400 and were encouraged to enter the competition.
“The new format of Miss Supercars is designed to open the competition to a larger network of competitors from across Australia and help develop a mentoring program for finalists and the ultimate winner,” he said.
In previous years, regional contestants have taken part in local heats, with the winner of each heat attending the Gold Coast 600 for the finals.
The Townsville heat has traditionally been held in the lead- up to the Townsville 400, with finalists taking up roles at the centre of the action over the revved- up weekend.
But this year Townsville girls who want a chance to strut their stuff in the finals will have to create an online profile, with public voting part of the selection process.
It’s understood the new competition format won’t be launched until after this year’s Townsville 400.
Some previous contenders in the local Miss Supercars heats have taken up roles as grid girls for Supercars teams.
Saeran Tanton, 22, was first runner- up in the Miss Supercars final on the Gold Coast last year and said she thought the changes would make the competition more prestigious.
“It’s always been fun doing Miss Supercars but now everyone can really look forward to the GC600,” she said.
“It kind of makes being a Miss Supercars grid girl at the GC600 even more special because there’s only one event you can do it at.”
Ms Tanton said she believed more women may be inspired to enter the competition in its revamped form.
“I think it’s good because you’ll get a lot of girls who maybe don’t have the confidence to get up on stage to give it a go who will enter now,” she said.
“We might get girls who are even more regional and can’t make it to Townsville.
“We may get some new faces to freshen things up.”
Ms Tanton said even without the Townsville Miss Supercars heat, she would be at the Townsville 400 this year as a grid girl.
“There’s still opportunities there to do some grid girl work, it just won’t be with Miss Supercars,” she said.
The Townsville 400 will run from July 7- 9.