RICHIE Stanaway’s road from the Supercars wilderness to Bathurst winner and full-time driver in 2024 has included taking inspiration from Fernando Alonso.
Stanaway has made a miraculous comeback after a wildcard run in the 2022 Bathurst 1000 alongside countryman Greg Murphy ended a three-year hiatus from the sport.
The Kiwi was then snapped up by Triple Eight to co-drive with Shane van Gisbergen in the 2023 endurance races, sensationally winning Sunday’s Bathurst 1000.
In August he also secured a deal to compete full-time in Supercars in 2024 with Grove Racing – an opportunity he thought may have passed him by, partly due to age.
The 31-year-old has already had a long career, climbing the European open-wheel ladder before returning for two disastrous full-time Supercars tilts in 2018 and ’19.
“I think my age… initially it was a bit of a concern, I thought maybe I’m a bit old, maybe I should stick to co-driving,” Stanaway told the Castrol Motorsport News Podcast.
“But looking at Alonso this year, he’s 10 years older than me and he’s still getting podiums in F1.
“I don’t think my age is an issue and it’s actually a perfect age where you’re sort of in between youth and experience.
“So, I think it’s the perfect time for me to come back and try and have a few good years.”
Stanaway was signed by Grove Racing days after being overlooked for the role of van Gisbegen’s replacement at Triple Eight, which opted for 25-year-old Will Brown.
Van Gisbergen said on Sunday that he’d been “secretly hoping” countryman Stanaway would get the Triple Eight drive.
“I tried to push to get Shane’s seat,” admitted Stanaway.
“But I sort of understand the idea behind picking a current driver that’s younger and was leading the championship heading into the round where the driver market opened up.
“But it is a little disappointing not to have got the seat. I would have loved to have stayed here, especially after our performance (at Bathurst).
“But at the end of the day I’ve got faith in the Groves that they can make their way forward. I’m more than happy to start working there and I believe we can get back to the front.”
While van Gisbergen is headed to NASCAR after a season in which he has frequently lamented the Gen3 Supercars, Stanaway is revelling in the new machines.
Surprisingly, he draws a parallel between the racing style in Gen3 and his time in Formula 1 feeder series GP2 (now Formula 2), where he was a multiple race winner in 2015.
“I really like it,” he said of Gen3. “I enjoy driving the car. It actually reminds me a lot of GP2, very, very similar.
“It’s a lot about tyre management and massive spreads between quali speeds and race speeds, exactly like GP2.
“I enjoyed that series and felt like that was a high-point in my career being in that series.
“This Gen3 car feels very, very similar. It’s not an open-wheeler, but the racing style.”
Stanaway will join 21-year-old Matt Payne in an all-Kiwi line-up next year at Grove Racing; a team that features several ex-Triple Eight staff and a co-driver in Garth Tander.
