As Australia’s first female Supercar driver, former Queensland private schoolgirl Renee Gracie learnt the hard way how tough it can be for an attractive young woman to exist in a man’s world.
Now, as one of the country’s most successful online porn stars, the stiletto is on the other foot.
Gracie, 25, is earning the best part of $3.5 million a year and planning a comeback to motor racing – but this time on her terms.
Renee Gracie, 25, is an Australian former professional race car driver turned adult model who is raking in almost $3.5million a year in her new career
Ms Gracie pictured as driver of the #360 Harvey Norman Super Girls Nissan Altima before practice for the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama on October 8, 2016
‘When I was driving, people said I only got a start because I had long hair and I was pretty,’ said the veteran of 95 races and two Bathurst 1000s. ‘It was the opposite. I had to work twice as hard as the guys for anything I got.
‘In the end that was half the reason I gave up driving. The other half was the cost. I just couldn’t afford it anymore. I had to come up with $600,000 a year to race. I had to get my own sponsors and any crashes or scratches I got on the car I had to pay for myself.
‘We had insurance but the excess was so high that the team bosses used to tell me, ‘don’t crash – but if you do, make sure you write it off’. Just a minor crash could cost $10,000. It’s a savage sport.’
Since becoming an X-rated celebrity on social media site OnlyFans nine months ago money is no longer an issue and Gracie is planning a return to the track next season – if the racing authorities let her compete.
‘I’m in a position now where I don’t have to be reliant on anyone else. I don’t have to beg for sponsorship. I have the money to pay for it myself. When I think back to where I was two years ago to where I am now I almost can’t believe it.’
And neither can the racing establishment, some of whom, she believes, will make it hard for her to get back behind the wheel.
‘I think some competitions like the Porsche Supercup would let me race but I would be amazed if Supercars let me back in. They are very old school. They all know what I have been doing and it would be a big shock for the system.’
Ms Gracie signs autographs for fans of her racing career before the 2015 Bathurst 1000 event as part of the V8 Supercar tour
Since joining adult site OnlyFans under a year ago, Ms Gracie has about 10,000 subscribers
The 25-year-old is planning a return to the racetrack if officials sign off, saying she is not reliant on sponsors
Gracie said she didn’t know if anyone involved in motor racing had subscribed to her OnlyFans page – ‘but it wouldn’t surprise me.’
‘It’s double standards but I’m used to that,’ she said. ‘I’ve had to fight for a fair go and equality my whole life.’
Which is why Gracie is so comfortable with what she is doing now, setting her own rules and boundaries.
OnlyFans works as an interactive social media site. Members subscribe to join Gracie’s group, with access to various levels of services.
For the standard monthly fee of US$10 they can visit her name page which contains over 300 lingerie and bikini shots. A menu then lists a range of more expensive items, ranging from nude photos up to X-rated performances with her boyfriend Karson.
Members can post comments and make specific requests.
‘There are certain things I will and won’t do,’ she said. ‘I won’t break the law and I won’t do multiple guys. Some people ask crazy things but I won’t do anything outside what I can do either with my boyfriend or by myself.
‘One thing I’ve learnt from doing this is that everyone has something weird and dark and secretive inside them. At first I was thinking ‘whoa, that’s crazy’ but them I got used to it. Now I think, ‘okay, I can cater for that’ but if it’s too extreme or outside my boundaries, I shut it down.
‘You get the occasional arsehole but most people are pretty good. I don’t like people being rude or mean to my other fans and there’s been a couple who have been too weird so I’ve had to block them or restrict them.
So what does she consider ‘too weird’.
‘Well, the weirdest was probably this guy who begged me to fly down to Sydney and pee on him. The thing was, he was just so adamant. He was offering anything, but I wouldn’t do it. That’s one of my rules. I would never meet one of my fans face to face.
‘I’m very careful not to let anyone know where I live or have any landmarks in my photos. You have to stay safe.’
The veteran of 95 races said the financial cost of her track career made her give up competitive racing (pictured before the 2015 Bathurst 1000 event)
The former Queensland private school student said she is careful not to post any identifying landmarks or signs in her pictures to fans
So, what is the oddest thing she has done?
‘I auctioned a pair of my undies for US$350. Just a pair of black Bond undies that cost me about five bucks. I wore them around for a day, put them up for auction and sat back and watched the bids come in.’
Which leads to the obvious question: how did a nice girl like you end up in a job like this.
‘When I stopped driving I had a few jobs and a girl I knew told me she was doing it so I thought ‘why not?’ The bikini shots weren’t that different from what I was putting on Instagram anyway so I thought, ‘what have I got to lose?’ I was hoping to get 500 subscribers.’
At last count she has around 10,000 subscribers paying a minimum US$10, which is just over AU$140,000 a month. If on average just half of those subscribers pay an extra US$20 a month for extras, that’s another AU$140,000, meaning Gracie is turning over around $3.36 million a year.
What is it that makes her so popular with her fans?
Pioneering female V8 Supercar team Simona De Silvestro (left) from Switzerland and Renee Gracie (right) with their #200 Harvey Norman Supergirls Falcon ahead of the Bathurst 1000, which is race 25 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Mount Panorama on October 7, 2015
Perhaps the knowledge that she is a real person. Those who have read her bio know she is a former racing driver; someone they might have seen encased from head to toe in helmet and asbestos suit and thought, ‘Gee I wonder what she looks like underneath all that’.
And, ironically given the way the motor racing establishment feels about her, in reverse that is the reason she will no doubt be a success if she gets back into the sport.
‘A few years ago I had to scratch around to find sponsors and plead with them to back me,’ she said. ‘Now if I go back with my own team I shouldn’t have any problems at all.
‘The adult entertainment industry is huge. Can you imagine how many websites and clubs will want to have their logo on my car? I won’t be able to fit them all on.’
Renee Gracie poses for a media event on the track before the 2016 Bathurst 1000 race
Ms Gracie said she is planning a return to her racing career by establishing her own team