Richie Stanaway showed good pace in GP3 testing at Jerez, Spain, over the weekend. The Kiwi was sixth in only his second outing in a single-seater since 2012.
Two weeks ago Stanaway was sitting at home in England looking forward to the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone this weekend as an Aston Martin works driver. The phone rang and he was quickly racing down a motorway to catch a plane heading to Estoril, Portugal, for the first test weekend of the GP3 season.
A last-minute deal was put together for Stanaway to test with Status Racing alongside Nick Yelloly and Alfonso Celis Jr. At Estoril, Stanaway clocked the fifth fastest time – impressive considering he hadn’t slid into a single-seater cockpit since his crash at Spa-Francorchamps nearly two years ago.
“I’d have to say it felt really good. I’d forgotten how good they are to drive,” said Stanaway.
“I can’t really put it into words what it was like to have a seat made and then get back into the car, and having that familiar feeling of being in an open cockpit and almost being able to touch the wheels.
“It was so good getting to drive one again and experience the amount of grip and downforce in a single-seater.”
Despite being really quick in a Porsche Supercup car and the Aston Martin WEC car, most of Stanaway’s racing has been in single-seaters.
On his road to Europe Stanaway won just about every category he competed in. He arrived on the continent in 2010 and won the German ADRC Masters series and the German F3 title the following year. As a 19-year-old in 2011, in his only other time in a GP3, he won at Spa-Francorchamps.
His 2012 crash halted his open-wheeler career and he feels he’s got unfinished business in the category.
“I have to thank Aston Martin for letting me test the Status GP3 car and it was a brilliant feeling,” he said. “It has really got me motivated again to do well this year. I’ve been out of single-seater racing for a while but with the new-generation GP3 car and engine package it feels like a pretty decent car.
“Sure, it’s not as fast as a World Series Renault or GP2 car but it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to go straight into one of those cars after such a long time away.
“GP3 couldn’t be a better place to get back into single-seater racing and I’m really keen to get going. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a crack at a full season so it’s great to have another chance.”
Stanaway is lucky there are no date clashes with his WEC commitments. If everything goes according to plan his first GP3 race will be at the Circuit De Catalunya outside Barcelona from May 9-11.
