STANAWAY: CO-DRIVING A CHANCE

Bathurst 1000 wildcard Richie Stanaway says a successful return to Supercars racing at Mount Panorama in October could tempt him into becoming an endurance co-driver.

But the 29-year old Kiwi, who quit Supercars at the end of 2019 after two tough seasons at Tickford Racing and GRM, says he will never return to any form of motor racing full-time

Stanaway, at one stage regarded as a likely Formula 1 prospect before breaking his back in a Formula Renault 3.5 accident in 2012, will join Kiwi legend Greg Murphy in an Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore ZB in a deal orchestrated by Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton.

He says co-driving in Supercars in the future is a possibility because it would not bring the pressure of a full-time driving.

“I think co-driving could be a good balance between my other commitments and still having a toe in the water,” Stanaway said.

“It’s something I would think about and have a better idea about after Bathurst.

“I’ll see how that goes, how I feel in the car, what the results are like and go from there.

“At the moment I am focussed on October and I’ll worry about next year when it comes.”

Stanaway co-drove Cameron Waters to the win in the 2017 Sandown 500. Weeks later he displayed sublime wet weather skills in the 1000.

But he finished only 25th in his rookie full-time Supercars season in 2018 with Tickford, which was having a difficult year extracting pace from its FG X Falcons.

The following year he shifted to GRM with Boost backing, effectively replacing Garth Tander and forcing the veteran’s retirement from full-time racing.

He missed several rounds when a painful protruding disc triggered by his old back injury flared up. He was later sidelined by team boss Garry Rogers for one race on the Gold Coast for missing an autograph session.

At season’s end Stanaway announced his retirement and in years since has concentrated on establishing a new business career.

Stanaway says he is happy in his new life, hence the steadfast rejection of a full-time racing return.

“My career has really ended,” said Stanaway. “I am coming back for this one-off almost like a weekend warrior.

“I have moved on with my life now and I don’t have any silly ideas about what could come next year or the year after.”

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