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In the lead up to the Sydney SuperNight, rumours began to brew that Stanaway’s future at the team was on tenterhooks.
Those fears were confirmed just days after the event when Speedcafe reported his contract had not been renewed.
Stanaway was on a one-plus-one deal — a one-year contract with the option for Grove Racing to renew.
What the future holds for Stanaway remains unclear and he could find himself out of Supercars full-time if a team doesn’t snag the Bathurst 1000 winner’s services.
It’s another brutal blow in Stanaway’s rocky Supercars career that’s been punctuated by one-year programs.
After winning the Sandown 500, he was given a seat at Tickford Racing for 2018. That lasted one year before joining Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2019.
He unceremoniously retired at the end of that season before reviving his career with a Bathurst 1000 campaign in 2022 alongside Kiwi legend Greg Murphy at Erebus Motorsport.
“I don’t think anyone can deny his talent, like internationally he has been amazing,” said Courtney on Supercars’ Drivers Only podcast.
“I think the tough thing for Richie is when he came to Tickford, I think he got screwed over there with that fourth car thing.
“Then he went to the GRM thing and GRM was sort of closing up and it was just a real shit show for him.
“So he has had two goes at it when it has been a half-arsed effort, so it hasn’t left a good taste in his mouth, either of those times.”
Winning the 2023 Bathurst 1000 opened the door for a full-time return. However, Stanaway has been soundly outperformed by his younger teammate Matt Payne.
Payne leads Stanaway head-to-head in races 10-6 while in qualifying the 21-year-old has a massive 15-1 advantage.
Nevertheless, Courtney said Stanaway deserved more time to deliver.
“Then coming in with [Grove Racing] and with it only being a one-year deal, there’s so much pressure,” said Courtney.
“After what he has done in his junior career and how his other two Supercars drives have gone… I think you would have seen the best of him if he had a longer contract – just say if it was two years instead of one year.
“As you guys know, ‘Okay it’s a one-year deal’ but three months into the first year you’re already thinking ahead and trying to plan for the future and trying to do another deal.
“If the team isn’t interested and not going to do that deal, there’s so much pressure and then there’s drama within the team if he’s wanting to stay and they’re not wanting him to stay and it just snowballs.”
Payne said he was “sad to see [Stanaway] go” but that “unfortunately it just sometimes doesn’t work out”.
“You hope for these things (go well) and then sometimes the chemistry just doesn’t work or it’s something else, I’m not sure,” said Payne.
“But I’m sure he’s going to push hard for the rest of the year and do the best he can.
“I think I will be friends with him for a very long time, even after this year – he’s a top bloke and I enjoy hanging out with him.”
