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Andrew van Leeuwen

Stanaway open to full-time Supercars comeback

The Kiwi called time on his racing career after the final race of the 2019 Supercars season off the back of a torrid two-year stint in the Aussie series.

After starring as an enduro driver in 2016 and 2017, Stanaway fell well short of expectations in his rookie Supercars season with Tickford in 2018.

That came as part of what was in general an underwhelming campaign for the Ford squad and led to a tense exit from the squad just one year into a multi-year deal.

He then moved to Garry Rogers Motorsport for another difficult season in 2019 before making the sensational call to retire aged just 27.

While it was thought he was lost to the sport, Stanaway was lured back for a Bathurst 1000 wildcard appearance by Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton.

The Erebus-run wildcard has been one of the highlights of Bathurst week so far, Stanaway and Murphy set to start the Great Race from fourth after the former starred in wet qualifying.

That's got Stanaway considering a full-time Supercars comeback.

"Yeah I would consider coming back full-time if the opportunity is right," he told Motorsport.com.

"I definitely qualified ahead of some people I shouldn't have, after three years on the couch. I pulled my cool suit out today, which I haven't used since my last race, and it smelt like the inside of a museum.

"I don't think there will be anyone else on the grid with that sort of situation..."

Stanaway added that he would want to be selective of any opportunities to return full-time in a bid to avoid landing back in uncompetitive hardware.

However in a frank admission he also conceded that he feels better equipped to deal with disappointment should a potential return prove more difficult than expected.

"Because I'm out of it now, I guess coming back I would like to be selective and make sure it's the right opportunity," he said.

"But then if I do end up back and for whatever reason things don't pan out as good as planned, I think I could definitely cope with those scenarios better than I was able to three or four years ago."

As it stands there is expected to be just one vacancy left on the 2023 grid, with Matt Stone Racing looking for a replacement for Blanchard Racing Team-bound Todd Hazelwood.

However that seat is likely to require the incoming driver to provide a budget.

Stanway declined to comment if he would be interested in the MSR drive, instead saying: "I just want to focus on this weekend and focus on my driving.

"We've still got 1000 kilometres of racing ahead of us. I don't want to even think about it until we get to Sunday night.

"I'm over the moon to have qualified so far up, but the real test is the race. I want to perform in the race. And maybe if we're not there in terms of track position, I at least want to be close to [Erebus primary drivers] Will [Brown] and Brodie [Kostecki] on pace. And then go from there."

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