Motorsport: Stanaway's back on the radar

Highly regarded Richie Stanaway came second in all three of his starts for Aston Martin this year.

Young Kiwi driver’s handling of the Aston Martin GTE is getting him noticed

The past 12 months may not have been quite what New Zealand race car driver Richie Stanaway hoped for, but there is no denying the 23-year-old is highly regarded by his peers and the international motorsport press.

Stanaway was one of the hottest prospects on the single-seater circuit until his monster crash at Spa Francorchamps in 2012, racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 litre championship. He sustained two fractured vertebrae that put an end to his season.

But in 2013 he was soon pushing the front-runners in the Porsche Supercup and was named an Aston Martin Racing works driver.

This year the Kiwi has been racing a limited World Endurance Championship calendar and had a full assault on the GP3 series. His early season form in GP3 saw him winning races and setting fastest laps, and he was leading the championship at one stage. But mechanical and other issues saw Stanaway slip down the table to finish eighth.

His passion lies in single-seaters but it was his limited outings in the Aston Martin GTE car that made many observers of motorsport take note.

In three starts as a driver in the WEC GTE Am category, Stanaway finished with a trifecta of second places and was regularly the fastest of the drivers.

Well-respected Autosport magazine went so far as to rank him eighth on the list of GTE racers in 2014, saying: "[He] posted a series of performances that marked him out as a man with a bright future in sportscars should his career take that direction."

Stanaway said: "I didn't do as many races with Aston Martin as I was hoping to. They withdrew a couple of their entries from the Le Mans 24 Hour and didn't run one of their cars for the rest of the series."

As a bit of an early Christmas present, Stanaway was invited to test for the German BMW DTM (touring car) championship team at Jerez de la Frontea in Spain for three days at the beginning of this month.

"It came about through racing in GP3. If you win a few races they are pretty keen to get you along for a shot at a DTM test. It was good to get another run with them after testing with them back at the end of 2011.

"You can't beat working with a manufacturer. The BMW M4 DTM is such a nice car to drive, so the test was a great pleasure.

"This season I raced in Formula and GT series, and it was nice to drive a car which has characteristics of both. I really enjoyed it and we'll just have to wait and see if anything comes of it."

The last-minute call-up to race a full season in GP3 in 2014 put Stanaway and his team a little on the back foot, but he was pleased to be back contesting his first full championship series since 2011.

"It was a bit frustrating as I never really had the right car underneath me and we never really had race pace the whole series. Silverstone was good though, as you can sometimes luck into a good window, but we didn't have any consistency.

"We were never quick enough in the races and I had to push really hard all the time to get the most out of the car. To be the best in junior formula you have to have a good car under you because it's so tight.

"Regardless of all that I was just very grateful to be on the grid and Status [team] did a great job getting me into the series.

"It's just a bit of a shame that the last three rounds weren't too good with having to start in pit lane, then getting hit off the track and no practice in the last round. However, five podiums and a couple of wins put me back on the radar," said Stanaway.

Nothing has been set in stone for 2015 for the young man, who is back home in New Zealand for Christmas, but things are shaping up rather nicely according to Stanaway and he's on the cusp of a few announcements.

"My plans for next year are just about sorted and it's just a matter of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. I can't reveal what the actual plans are for next year, but by mid-January I'll be in a position to let everyone know.

"I'm pretty excited about what will be happening and it's pretty amazing."