To back a declared ambition to have a woman competing in the main championship as soon as next year, V8 Supercars will provide the funding for a team to run a female who has the potential to match the established male drivers.

The sanctioning body has taken the unusual step of securing sponsorship for a full-time female competitor to accelerate interest among top-tier V8 teams.

Believed to be worth around $1 million, the commercial support for a female racer in the title series will be available from 2017.

But to avoid the appearance of a publicity stunt, V8 bosses are adamant that the drive would have to be earned on merit and are prepared to withhold the backing until 2018 or even '19.

Teams in the V8 Supercars championship have been briefed on the terms of the offer, with several expressing interest in becoming the first in the modern era to field a woman driver for the whole season.

Two young women will contest V8's second-tier Dunlop Series this year, but it has been 41 years since a female has competed in all races of the national touring car championship.

Offering funding to get a full-time female on the title series grid as soon as next year follows the first all-female driver pairing for almost two decades in last year's Bathurst 1000.

Local rookie Renee Gracie and Swiss international Simona de Silvestro shared a Falcon backed by retailer Harvey Norman in a two-year deal brokered by V8 Supercars.

"We've seen the first all-female driver combination on the grid at Bathurst in 17 years and secured backing for a team to run a full-time female driver on merit as soon as 2017," said V8 Supercars chief executive officer James Warburton, who is championing female involvement.

The incentive scheme is the next step in an aggressive effort to increase female participation in V8 racing at all levels – and, by extension, to attract more women followers.

V8 Supercars is encouraging girls to aspire to competing in the second-tier Dunlop Series, which is the main training ground for the championship.

It wants a woman to break into the male-dominated 26-car title series field to act as an inspiration for female drivers, overcoming the perception of a gender barrier.

While V8 racing is open to women, female drivers have yet to make their mark despite many attempts over the past 40 years.

Women have made sporadic appearances in the two-driver endurance races in the V8 Supercars era of Australian touring car racing over the past 19 years, but none has contested the full championship.

No woman has raced regularly in the national touring car title series since Christine Gibson in 1975.

Two candidates for V8's backing are Gracie and newcomer Chelsea Angelo, who will compete in the Dunlop Series.

Gracie, 21, from Brisbane, is contesting her second season in the V8 development series and is also scheduled to partner de Silvestro at Bathurst again, while 19-year-old Angelo, from Melbourne, is set for her first full season in the second-level series.

As well as local girls, V8's offer to help fund a full-time future championship drive is also open to experienced international female racers like de Silvestro, who impressed at Bathurst last year and may be available in 2017 if she doesn't continue in the all-electric Formula E championship or return to IndyCars in America.

According to V8's Warburton, next year would probably be too soon for Gracie or Angelo to graduate to the championship.

"I would've thought that both Renee and Chelsea need more time in the Dunlop Series," he told Fairfax Media. "But that's not something for me to judge. I don't want to push any particular individual. We'll do everything we can to support Chelsea and Renee. We just have to see how things pan out for them."

Warburton confirmed that V8 Supercars had arranged sponsorship for a full-time female entry in the championship as soon as next year if the right candidate was put forward by a team.

"I think it makes it easier in these financial times to have arrangements in place for backing, so it is a real incentive for the teams," he said. "It's not something we normally get involved in, but it's something we feel is right in terms of the growth pathways for participation in the sport."

Warburton added: "I've made an open declaration to all the teams and manufacturers, and everyone's aware that it's there. I've had numerous conversations and at this particular point in time, there's nothing in play, there's no individual selected, there's nothing along those lines. It just sits there as a possibility."

He also emphasised that a female driver would have to earn the V8-backed full-time drive with a championship team on merit.

"The teams are aware of that and if the right opportunity presents itself and the right driver emerges, it's something we've put in place," Warburton said. "But I don't think we should be putting undue pressure on young [female] drivers.

"They're going to have to do their time and like any other driver, be judged on merit to partner with a team and be a full-time [championship] driver."