New Zealand international single seater and sportscar star Richie Stanaway has today been confirmed as co-driver for lead driver Chris Pither in the Ice Break Super Black Racing Ford at the 2016 V8 Supercar endurance events at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.
Team owner Tony Lentino is confident he will settle in and demonstrate his widely recognized speed and race craft to the team and the Supercar field, commenting: “It’s a very exciting signing for the team during a very positive period.”
Stanaway, fresh from a podium finish at the World Endurance Championship round at Spa in Belgium in the works Aston Martin GT car, will test the Prodive-prepared V8 Supercar machine at Winton for the first time this coming weekend in practice, the first of two outings planned before the Sandown enduro on September 16-18. It follows a major step up in form for the team and Pither at the most recent Perth Supersprint event.
Stanaway is looking forward to fulfilling a long time ambition with the drive. “I’m extremely excited to be joining Super Black Racing and grateful for the opportunity to get some mileage under my belt to be as best prepared as possible for the enduro races later in the year,” he explained. “Competing in V8 Supercars and especially the Bathurst 1000 has always been a childhood dream for me so I can’t wait to get going. I’ll be focused on putting my best foot forward to deliver the best possible results for the team.”
Though still just 24, Stanaway has an impressive international record in both single seaters and tin tops. New Zealand Formula Ford champion in 2009, he went on to be champion in the German ADAC Formula Masters series in 2010, but not before dominating on his Toyota Racing Series debut at the Hamilton 400, taking the outright lap record in front of the V8 Supercar paddock.
He was German Formula 3 champion in 2011, before progressing to GP3 and Renault 3.5, where he took numerous race wins and podiums. He took part in Formula One’s major support category GP2 last season, winning two races including the feature race on the challenging streets of Monte Carlo at the Monaco Grand Prix. His tin top experience includes a season in the Porsche SuperCup with the DAMS team in 2013, before joining Aston Martin in 2013 and undertaking race winning duty for them in the World Endurance Championship and the Grand Am Series in the USA. He also took pole in the GTE Pro class at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015 on his first visit to the track.
He won’t be brand new to a modern Supercar either, having sampled the current generation car at the end of 2013 and tested a Development Series car at Queensland Raceway back in 2009 as a prize for winning the NZ Formula Ford series.
Super Black Manager Greg Hahn says “We’ve been working on this for a while. He’s one of the hottest New Zealand talents out there in global motorsport and there’s absolutely no question about his outright pace and his abilities in an endurance race, so we see him joining the team for the enduros as a huge positive and can’t wait to get him in the car for practice”.
