Girls strut their stuff on the grid

Serenaded by the relentless roar of V8 engines and egged on by a sea of drooling men, 28 bikini clad Grid Girls fought it out for the inaugural Miss Hamilton 400 title at the weekend.

In less than tropical temperatures the contestants shivered yet smiled their way on to the Seddon Park stage in three heats over three days.

There were still plenty of backstage butterflies on Saturday but many said they fed off the raucous crowd that was hundreds strong and almost entirely male.

Each contestant was asked if they were supporting Holden or Ford and, while most were backing the former, Rose Burleigh's ambivalence won the day when she declared: "I swing both ways".

But while the contestants were on stage on Saturday an underwear thief apparently raided the Grid Girls changing room. When they returned after the pageant, three or four g-strings had disappeared.

And just for the record the inaugural Miss Hamilton 400 winner was Pipi Sopp.