RICHIE Stanaway will rejoin the full-time Supercars grid next year after signing with Grove Racing.
Stanaway will replace David Reynolds to form an all-Kiwi line-up, alongside Matt Payne who returns for a second season.
Stanaway is one of the great enigmas of Australasian motorsport, a mighty talent who it hasn’t quite come together for at Supercars level.
An international foray in his younger years included racing against Valtteri Bottas in Formula 3, beating the likes of Pierre Gasly to win a pair of F2 races, and a stint as a factory Aston Martin driver in the World Endurance Championship.
Stanaway quickly adapted to a Supercar, winning his fourth ever Super2 race and clinching the 2017 Sandown 500 with Cam Waters.
From there, things unravelled during single-season main game stints with Tickford Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport, leading to his sudden retirement at the end of 2019.
Stanaway re-emerged in style last year via a Boost Mobile-backed Bathurst 1000 wildcard, after which he was signed by Triple Eight to co-drive with Shane van Gisbergen.
There’s now more to come, with Stephen Grove confident the 31-year-old can finally showcase his true ability.
“As we continue to build the race team, securing a driver of Richie’s calibre is extremely exciting; giving the team the opportunity to challenge for race wins and championships,” said the Grove Racing team owner.
“Richie’s experience and feedback will be great for the team to further develop moving forward.”
Stanaway voiced his excitement at the chance, having been overlooked in favour of Will Brown for the Triple Eight seat van Gisbergen is vacating.
“I would like to thank Penrite Racing for the incredible opportunity to be a part of the team next year,” he said.
“I’ve been impressed by the direction the team has been heading in recent years and have been enjoying my time in the Gen3 era thus far so I am excited to see what we can achieve together.”
Stanaway spent the weekend racing for Triple Eight in GT World Challenge Asia at Japan’s Okayama International Circuit.
Grove meanwhile added of Reynolds: “I wish Dave all the best as he moves forward and thank him for his contribution to the team over the last three seasons.”
Reynolds is set to join Team 18 on a multi-year deal.
