Stanaway at the crossroads again
There was a lot of hope and hype when Richie Stanaway and Grove Racing joined forces, but just seven rounds in the partnership is over, leaving the Kiwi at the crossroads once again.
Even before Stanaway started his successful enduro campaign with Triple Eight last year, Grove Racing swooped on him to be their new full-time driver replacing David Reynolds with a one-year deal that included an option for 2025.
“Securing a driver of Richie’s calibre is extremely exciting. It is giving the team the opportunity to challenge for race wins and championships. His experience and feedback will be great for the team to further develop,” said Stephen Grove at the time.
Boosted by the announcement, Stanaway proceeded to play an important role alongside Shane van Gisbergen in winning the Bathurst 1000 and finishing third in the Sandown 500.
Richie Stanaway racing under lights in Sydney. Image: Mark Horsburgh
These results only generated more excitement for his first full-time drive in five years, but the promise and results unfortunately failed to materialise.
Having put an incident in Practice 1 behind him, it started brilliantly with Stanaway finishing fourth in his first race for Grove Racing at the Bathurst 500.
However, this would prove to be his only top five finish of the season as younger teammate Matt Payne took charge.
A quartet of top 10s from Albert Park to Taupo offered some hope, but since then things have unraveled.
Richie Stanaway performed in the rain in Sydney. Image: Mark Horsburgh
Stanaway’s best result in the eight races since is 10th at Hidden Valley, whilst the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park was a new low with the #26 struggling to 16th and 21st.
All up he sits 13th in the championship with a race average position of 12.44 and qualifying average of 14.31.
On all measures Stanaway is well down on teammate Payne, who has an average race finish of 7.87 and average grid of 8.5.
The younger Kiwi has spearheaded Grove Racing’s assault with two poles, four podiums and victory at Townsville.
A telling moment was on the Sydney SuperNight wrap up Fox Sports broadcast when both Payne and Stanaway were lined up to be interviewed by Neil Crompton, but the latter left before his teammate had finished answering the second question.
With Stanaway struggling and Payne performing, Grove Racing elected to announce the former’s departure at the end of the year.
This has left Stanaway at the crossroads again in a career where he has chopped and changed throughout.
His talent is undeniable, showcased by the highs in Supercars and in GP2 where he took two wins in a field that also featured current and former F1 drivers Stoffel Vandoorne, Alexander Rossi, Sergey Sirotkin, Rio Haryanto and Pierre Gasly.
Richie Stanaway celebrating a GP2 win at Monaco
Having then turned his attention to GT and WEC racing, Stanaway returned to Australia in 2016 when he made his Supercars debut with SuperBlack Racing as Chris Pither’s co-driver.
The pair showed decent speed with a 12th and a 10th in the enduros and it led to a promotion to Tickford/Prodrive alongside Cameron Waters.
This proved to be the perfect platform for Stanaway to take the Supercars world by storm.
He and Waters dominated the 2017 Sandown 500, taking a commanding win.
Youngsters Cam Waters and Richie Stanaway win the 2017 Sandown 500.
Whilst they only finished 16th at Bathurst, it is arguably Stanaway’s drive in the Great Race that is more remembered as he produced scorching pace in shockingly wet conditions during a stint that Triple Eight used as preparation.
This led to a promotion to a full-time drive in a four-car Tickford squad in 2018, but it proved to be a nightmare.
The #56 FG Falcon finished 25th and last in the championship with just one top 10.
This saw Stanaway and Tickford cut ties in what would be the only time the Kiwi raced consecutive seasons for the same team.
Richie Stanaway had his first crack at full time racing with Tickford in 2018, but it did not go to plan.
A lifeline was handed by Garry Rogers Motorsport as a surprise replacement for Garth Tander in 2019 as the team took the Kiwi and a new major sponsor in the deal.
But that relationship was also tested with Stanaway initially missing seven races due to a neck injury, while he also stood down in the middle of the Gold Coast 600 due to disciplinary reasons.
After finishing 24th with one top 10 result in 2019, Stanaway retired from the sport.
Richie Stanaway completed his last full time Supercars season in 2019 with GRM and it led to him taking a break from racing all together.
Despite three years in the wilderness, Stanaway made a stunning comeback to the sport in 2022.
Driving an Erebus Motorsport wildcard with another comeback Kiwi Greg Murphy, Stanaway qualified fifth in a wet qualifying for the Great Race.
Richie Stanaway ended a three-year hiatus from Supercars with a strong Erebus wildcard effort with Greg Murphy at Bathurst in 2022.
The pair ended up 11th, but Stanaway did enough to prove he had not lost the old magic.
It led to the opportunity of his career, driving alongside Shane van Gisbergen at Sandown and Bathurst at Triple Eight and they combined brilliantly, taking the biggest Great Race win in 24 years.
Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway lift the Peter Brock Trophy.
Unfortunately a return to full-time racing with Grove Racing has not worked out for Stanaway, but he may not disappear from Supercars altogether.
His story is expected to continue as a co-driver in 2025.
READ THE PIASTRI VICTORY ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE
Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.
