2010 TRS Rookie (raced at Hamilton last season)

Birth date: 24 November 1991 (18)

Home town: Tauranga

Team: ETEC Motorsport

Team Principal: Trevor Schuemack

Engineer: Andy Neale

Sponsors:

Website: http://www.richiestanaway.com

Driver in waiting: Richie Stanaway hails from a family of “naturals” – drivers instinctively able to wrest the best from whatever they race.  Unlike many drivers on the path to the ultimate motor race category, Richie didn’t start out in karts.

His route to success was more unconventional than most. He began racing motocross successfully from the age of five, before competing in speedway at the age of twelve until he began racing karts at fourteen.

It was a varied and challenging development that saw him secure the coveted SpeedSport Scholarship at the age of 15. Rookie of the Year in Formula First in 2007-2008, he moved into the competitive arena of Formula Ford for the 2008-2009 series and was the man to beat, winning nine races in succession and fourteen in total on his way to the 2009 MTA New Zealand Formula Ford title.

Emerging out of that pitched battle for supremacy in the Formula Ford category last year, Stanaway made a one-off appearance in TRS at the Hamilton 400, the toughest circuit on the championship trail.  He dominated the entire weekend, qualifying on pole for both races and then winning the races and setting a new outright lap record for the circuit that is unlikely to be challenged any time soon.

In late 2009, Richie signed a dream deal with influential race management company RRT Holdings. The agreement provides him with a long-term contract starting with a fully funded 2010 season in the Formula ADAC Masters Championship with the Volkswagen Factory assisted Ma-Con Motorsport Team.

Subject to Richie’s mid-season results, he will also be offered testing in European Formula 3. 

While currently awaiting a move to Europe early in 2010 to focus on his motorsport career under this new management, Richie has unfinished business in the Toyota Racing Series.  His late inclusion in the entry for Hampton Downs and the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild the following weekend adds excitement to a battle that is already running hot.

At Hampton Downs he squares off against long-time Formula Ford rival Mitch Evans: two of New Zealand’s rising stars pitting themselves against a new track and each other against the background of a dozen drivers all capable of challenging for podium positions and wins.

Away from the track, Richie enjoys cycling, running, fitness training, karting, surfing, swimming and skiing.