Stanaway ignores hype
RICHIE Stanaway may be the talk of the pit lane, but he feels he’s not worth judging just yet.
The Tauranga born 25-year-old has become hot property in the category, although he hasn’t yet confirmed where he’ll be driving next year.
But with each lap he takes around a track in a Supercar, he looks more assured and more like he belongs.
He was Chris Pither’s co-driver at Super Black Racing last year and this season he’s doing the same job for Cameron Walters, at Monster Energy Racing, but still inside the Prodrive Racing Australia stable.
Together they won the Sandown 500 last month, which is seen as the dress rehearsal for the Bathurst 1000 and they’ll be among the leading contenders for the Great Race today.
Stanaway says he feels more comfortable in the category this year, but suggests there has perhaps been an overreaction to how he’s been going.
‘‘I feel a lot better than I did last year,’’ Stanaway said of his time in the endurance races with the now defunct Kiwi team in 2016.
‘‘That was the worst case scenario, in that I didn’t know any of GETTY IMAGES the three circuits and I didn’t really have any idea what I was doing when driving these cars, because it was so different to what I was used to.
‘‘So there was definitely a bit of insecurity there last year and I was thinking whether I’d ever be able to get on top of this.
‘‘I had to keep reminding myself that everyone around me has done this multiple times before, so I couldn’t let it get to me.’’
Stanaway led throughout his stint in the car at the Sandown 500 and he showed that he was one of the fastest among the co-drivers, however, it’s not against these guys that he wants to measure himself against.
‘‘It’s nice now that the speed has come relative to the other codrivers,’’ he said. ’’But at the same time I’m only comparing myself against guys who were full-time drivers many years ago, or guys that will only ever drive the car three times a year and they’re not the true reference.
‘‘I’m not out there with Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and guys like that, I’m always in the car relative to those co-drivers, so there is a big step I need to take.
‘‘But I am happy that I can punch well with co-drivers and now it’s a matter of making that last step, which comes with experi- ence.
‘‘I need to get one or two fulltime seasons under my belt before I can truly get on top of it, because I haven’t done the circuit and haven’t had the mileage in a car that the full-time guys have had, but that will come with time.’’
And that leads us into the big question about where Stanaway will be racing next year. Prodrive Racing Australia would love to have him, but it’s unlikely they’ll have space and it has been suggested they could sign him, then lease him to another team for a season.
Stanaway though says nothing yet has been confirmed and he’s not in any rush to get it done.
‘‘It’s up in the air still, I don’t have anything set in stone yet,’’ he said. ’’I’m working through things at the moment, to try to see what we can put together for next year.
‘‘I’d say after Gold Coast I’ll have a better idea, because it’s not really the sort of thing I want to be thinking about right now.’’