Motorsport: Kiwi rookie off to Le Mans after Monaco win

Tauranga driver Richie Stanaway of the Status Grand Prix team wins the Monaco GP2 race, in Monte Carlo. Photo / GP2 Series Media Service

Richie Stanaway took the flag in Monte Carlo in only his third race in the category.

Rising New Zealand motor racing star Richie Stanaway took another great leap forward in his career by winning the Monaco GP2 race last weekend.

He may be a rookie by name in the championship, but at just 23 years of age the Tauranga driver has some impressive wins under his belt.

He's notched up a national and two international titles so far and is coming third in the FIA World Endurance Championship racing a works Aston Martin driver. The only hiccup in his stellar career to date was a big shunt at Spa-Francorchamps during a Renault 3.5-litre race in 2012 where he severely damaged his back.

After putting as much effort into his recovery as he does his racing, Stanaway was soon back in action, most recently contesting the GP3 championship last year alongside his WEC commitments.

This year he stepped up to the GP2 category and after a slow start was soon on the pace, winning his first race and handing Status Grand Prix their fist victory as a GP2 team.

"It was fantastic to get my first win in GP2 around Monaco," said Stanaway. "It was my third time at the track and I've always been quick here. A lot depends on getting a good track position at the start and this year I had a good run at it and didn't have to do too much passing.

"Monaco is a unique place and you need a unique [car] set-up. It's a very different track to what we normally run on. You can use whatever downforce you want on the car and we managed to get everything just about right.

"We now just have to keep making steady progress and get the car good at the rest of the tracks we have to go to. We're heading in the right direction and things are looking good.

"The team are very happy as it was only their third race in GP2 [they normally race in GP3] and getting the win made everyone feel good. Especially as everything is new to them and me as well."

Stanaway has been on the verge of starting the 24 Hours of Le Mans a couple of times in the past, but on each occasion the deal didn't come off and he had to sit on the sidelines. Not so this year. He'll be suiting up alongside fellow Kiwis Brendon Hartley (Porsche LMP1), Earl Bamber (Porsche LMP1) and Mitch Evans (Jota Sport LMP2) in an Aston Martin GTE.

At the recent round of the WEC series at the Spa-Francorchamps six-hour race, Stanaway, with co-drivers Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall, held off the AF Corse Ferrari to take the GTE Pro class win.

"I've got the official test really soon at Le Mans [this weekend] and then the race is a couple of weekends after that [June 12-13]. It's gong to be one of the biggest and toughest races of the year. I'm in the Aston with two good teammates and we should go all right and have a good chance of a class win.

"I feel I'm a bit of an underdog in the GP2 series as that's all new to me and the team, but with Aston we should be contenders for a podium at least, having already done a few races in the car. It's great to be able to finally start a Le Mans race," Stanaway said.

Many professional drivers have the skill sets to jump from one type of race car to another and be able to click off some pretty fast lap times.

However, to win in a sports car and then win in a single seater is a tall order. Stanaway appears to be able to do the business in a remarkably effortless, sublime way. He doesn't so much manhandle a car around a circuit; more guides it.

"To be honest, I haven't really thought about getting out of one type of car and getting into another much at all. I just get in and drive whatever I'm racing that weekend. I don't know really - I just drive whatever's underneath me.

"The Aston is pretty straightforward and an easy car to drive and that just comes naturally to me. I've been racing single seater cars for so long now it's pretty easy for me to jump into the GP2 car and get on top of it pretty quickly," he said.

Stanaway has a way of uncomplicating things; he reckons all racecars have four patches of tyre on the track and you just manage them.