Heading into his first full-time season in the Supercars championship, the 2017 Sandown 500 winner was touted as the next big thing as he joined Tickford Racing at the start of the year, one of a few gun rookies to join the field.
Initial promise has failed to be converted into solid results for the Kiwi as he and his Tickford Racing teammates have struggled for results all season. The team have recorded only one podium during this year’s Supercars Championship, after finding much success last year off the back of Chaz Mostert’s top five championship position and the breakthrough Sandown 500 victory for Cam Waters and Stanaway.
Speaking after going fastest in the third Thursday practice session at Mount Panorama ahead of the Bathurst 1000, Stanaway talked about how he has had to manage his expectations and regain confidence throughout a tough first year.
“Anyone would struggle to remain confident after the season I’ve had but I go through phases,” Stanaway said in Thursday’s press conference.
“I have a few rounds where I get a bit of confidence back, obviously I have three really good team-mates to compare myself with, then I have a few rounds where I start to lose confidence.
“I’m still trying to feel out where I’m at, what I’m capable of but it just takes time; as bad as the season has been, I still don’t feel like I’ve quite done enough racing in these cars.
“The guys at the top have been racing these cars for the last 5 to 10 years and I’m three-quarters of the way through one season, starting to feel a big difference between now and where I was at back at Adelaide.
“That’s why I was always very conservative with my expectations on what I’d be capable of this year.”
Richie Stanaway’s teammates have also struggled – Photo: InSyde Media
His seasoned team-mates in Mark Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters have all endured a difficult 2018 with the common denominator being the Tickford Falcon rather than any one driver, something which has helped Stanaway remain confident in himself.
“…it’s slightly concerning that it’s (the car) fast in the wet and we can get our tyres working but when it’s dry we overwork the tyre or whatever and can’t qualify or do three laps in a race with good pace.
“We’ve been looking into it for the past 12 months and still haven’t figured it out or got our head around it and today reconfirms that issue we’ve had.
“A lot of (the problems) has been to do with our car; if Mark, Chaz and Cam were one-two-three and I’d been where I’ve been all season, then I’d be criticising myself a lot more.
“Based off the facts I have and what I can analyse, more often than not I’ve been able to maintain a bit of confidence.”
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