SUPERCARS recruit Simona De Silvestro has arrived in Australia intent on lifting her car up the Bathurst order as she prepares for her fulltime launch into the series next year.

The Swiss driver has dived straight into her preparations for the big race, spending Saturday at Nissan Motorsport headquarters to familiarise with the team Renee Gracie and herself will race for as a wildcard entry at Mount Panorama next month.

Bathurst marks the start of the next chapter in De Silvestro’s racing career after she earlier this month signed a three-year deal to become Supercars’ first fulltime female driver from 2017.

De Silvestro finished 21st with Gracie in the Supergirls’ entry at Bathurst last year and said her first goal was improving on that result.

“Last year we had a bit of an unfortunate moment where we had a crash and for sure we can better that and that’s the goal,’’ De Silvestro said.

“It’s still going to be a difficult challenge because I haven’t driven the car the whole year and the other guys are and you are competing on one of the toughest tracks out there.

“It’s going to be tough, but I think improving on last year that’s the first goal and I think if we do a clean job then we can have a really good result on Sunday.’’

De Silvestro, nicknamed the Iron Maiden, moves into Supercars after most recently competing in Formula E in Europe.

The former IndyCar driver said she was excited to be embarking on a new motorsport challenge and said Bathurst would be an important launching pad for next year.

“Every time I’m in the race car it’s a really big learning process and preparation for next year,’’ the 28-year-old said.

“I really enjoyed Supercars when I drove it last year so it’s going to be an interesting next three years and I can’t wait for the season to start.

“Having the opportunity again now to run at Bathurst, which is such an important race, it’s definitely a preparation.

“I definitely think I’m going to go into it, writing down even more notes than I’m used to and trying to take in as much as I can.’’

De Silvestro and Gracie will hit the track this week to familiarise themselves with their new Nissan Altima in a two-day test at Winton Raceway.

“It should be fun, it’s nice to go back to a track that I know, but with a new car this time with the Nissan. It will be interesting to see how that feels,’’ De Silvestro said.

“I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel again because it has been a year now since I have driven the Supercar and as a driver you can’t wait to get back in it.’’

While De Silvestro will suit up for Nissan at Bathurst, she said there had still been no decision made on who she would race for in Supercars from next year.

“It’s still all to play out right now, no decision has been made at the moment,’’ she said.

“There is a few offers on the table, right now the focus is really Bathurst and get through this and then start focusing on the other stuff.’’