Stanaway gears up for Taupo
Bathurst 1000 winner Richie Stanaway says winning his home race in New Zealand will mean as much to him as his Mount Panorama victory last year as he aims to headline the Kiwi contingent for this weekend’s round at Taupo.
As Supercars racing heads back across the ditch for the first time since 2022, Stanaway will be among five New Zealand drivers striving to upset the championship frontrunners and claim bragging rights against their Australian rivals.
Stanaway is the top-placed NZ driver in the Supercars field at sixth in the standings after the opening two rounds and is one half of an all-Kiwi driver lineup at Grove Racing alongside Matt Payne.
A win on home soil would add to a remarkable turnaround for the 32-year-old, who won last year’s Bathurst 1000 as a co-driver alongside fellow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen for Triple Eight to help catapult him back into the series full-time.
But as he targets his first sprint race win, Stanaway said winning in his own country would be just as big as standing on top of the podium in the sport’s biggest race at Mount Panorama.
“I’ve never won a sprint race before so I would love to get that first one here at home,” Stanaway said.
“It would probably be equally as big for me (as winning Bathurst), especially because I have not won a sprint race before.
“I’ve had a really good run in the endurance races sharing a car with another driver, so you are sort of sharing the success with another guy. But I have never managed to get a win in a sprint race with all the primary drivers in the cars.
“So I think it’s a big step up from getting good results in endurance races as a codriver.”
Stanaway is determined to make up for lost time in his first full-time Supercars role since 2019.
He has started the season with three top-10 results in the opening six races.