The V8 Supercars girls will show a little less flesh and a little more
class this year.
Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins rose to national fame in a chequered, bottom-skimming get up.
But the skimpy, figure-hugging jumpsuits of the former Miss Indy grid girls are now a racing relic of the past.
The scant kits have been ditched in favour of a conservative uniform.
Brisbane's Miss V8 Supercars
hopeful Kaitlin Hawkins, 22.
This year's Miss V8 Supercars will be covered from head-to-toe, in a move to coincide with a plan to tame the Gold Coast event.
Contestants in the Miss V8 Supercars competition will now wear long black pants, a light-coloured t-shirt, and a baseball cap.
But long-time competition organiser Leanne St George has denied the new gear was designed to appease a more conservative crowd.
"This is not about political correctness, because I'm not a great fan of it," she said.
"It's a new design, just like thigh-high boots are in one year, and ankle boots are in the next.
"We were looking for something that was different and classy."
First-time contestant Kaitlin Hawkins - a project manager in the family business, Brisbane's Hawkins Garden Centre - said she would not have entered the competition had the revealing jumpsuits not been replaced.
"I was really concerned about the outfits. I only agreed to enter once I heard that V8 Supercars wanted to clean up its image and make it an event that caters to more than what it has catered to in the past," Ms Hawkins, 22, said.
"I am so happy the new outfits are fun and sporty, yet are still not all about the flesh.
"I am more interested in being a businesses ambassador."
The new outfits will debut at this weekend's Ipswich 300.
Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke supported the move, saying the motorsporting event should not be characterised by scantily-clad women.
"It signifies a move to dignify the event. It was regarded too much as a 'boob exhibition', with the very skimpy outfits of the grid girls and the [displays] by female spectators from the balconies," Cr Clarke said.
"The race is the most important thing, not the spectators."
But Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully disagreed, saying the decision was too prudish for Australian racing.
"We're not prudes in Ipswich," Cr Tully said.
"The girls will look like athletes in tracksuits at the Olympic Games opening ceremony, not V8 Supercar girls."
Ms St George said the decision was a practical one.
"It could be 48 degrees in Darwin, it could be 38 degrees on the Gold Coast ... or it could minus three in Bathurst. So we need a uniform that goes across all the temperature extremes," Ms St George said.
"We do not want the girls to get burnt; we don't the girls to freeze either.
"We also need the girls to feel comfortable and empowered when they are wearing the uniforms, as corporate ambassadors to one of the largest sports in Australia.
"We are searching for the feminine face of V8 Supercars and she will have a very important role."
Twelve girls will contest each round of the V8s held throughout the country, with the winner of each competing for the title at the Sydney Telstra 500 in December.
Auditions for the Gold Coast round will be held in coming months.
