Richie Stanaway and Grove Racing will go their separate ways at the end of the 2024 Supercars season.
The team confirmed on Friday afternoon that the New Zealander, who joined the Ford Mustang team at the start of this year after a four-season absence from a full-time Supercars seat, will depart at the end of the season.
“Grove Racing can confirm that Richie Stanaway’s contract will not be renewed for Season 2025,” the team statement reads.
“Richie will continue as our main-game driver for the remainder of the 2024 season, and we will endeavour to support Richie to perform at the level that we know he is capable of.
“The team’s current priority is to finish the 2024 season as strong as possible, and maximise our position in the teams' championship.
“The driver of Car #26 for Season 2025 will be announced in due course.”
Speculation is high that the team has an eye on signing reigning champion Brodie Kostecki for 2025 and beyond. Kostecki, who missed the first two rounds of this season, is out of contract with Erebus Motorsport at the end of the year.
The other team that has been linked to Kostecki is Dick Johnson Racing meaning, if that is indeed his destination, either of its current drivers Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale could be considered by Grove. The other DJR driver who could be in the mix is Kai Allen, the teenage Super2 driver who is thought to be a free agent for 2025.
Stanaway, 32, was a race winner in GP3, Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 before his international open-wheeler career stalled. He raced for Aston Martin Racing in 2015-2017 before turning to what was then V8 Supercars in 2016.
After a season with Tickford Racing, he joined Garry Rogers Motorsport for 2019, but missed seven races due to a neck injury, before he was stood down after missing an autograph session at the Gold Coast 500.
He announced his retirement from racing in November of 2019 but returned in 2022, driving a wildcard entry at the Bathurst 1000.
He and co-driver Greg Murphy proved to be very competitive, finishing 11th, and Stanaway was promptly signed by Triple Eight to co-drive with Shane van Gisbergen in the endurance races the following year. The pair starred, finishing third at the Sandown 500 and winning the Bathurst 1000.
At Grove this season, Stanaway has been comprehensively outperformed by teammate Matt Payne, who sits fifth in the championship points after 16 races, to Stanaway's 13th. Payne leads his fellow Kiwi 15-1 in the qualifying head-to-head and 10-5 in the race head-to-head.
