Richie Stanaway will return for the 2025 Supercars season, now driving for PremiAir Nulon Racing alongside teammate James Golding. This move comes after his departure from Grove Racing, where he had a single season. The team opted to replace him with Super2 champion Kai Allen, leaving Stanaway with the challenge of finding a new full-time opportunity in a competitive landscape.
For Stanaway, this will be just his fourth full-time season in Supercars, having previously spent time with Tickford Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport, where he partnered with Golding. In recent years, he has taken on co-driver roles in endurance rounds for 2022 and 2023, following earlier co-driver stints in 2016 and 2017. His Supercars future seemed uncertain after Brodie Kostecki confirmed his switch to Dick Johnson Racing, which ended Stanaway's successful yet turbulent tenure with Erebus Motorsport.
The retirement of Tim Slade from full-time competition unexpectedly opened a door for Stanaway at PremiAir Racing. This opportunity allows him to race in Triple Eight-prepared machinery, the same team with which he and Shane van Gisbergen celebrated victory at the 2023 Bathurst 1000.
Expressing his enthusiasm about the new opportunity, Stanaway stated, “I could not be more excited about this opportunity to join PremiAir Nulon Racing. The passion and enthusiasm held by Peter and Carmen Xiberras and the entire team is absolutely undeniable, and the commitment they have shown in the three short years they have been a part of the Supercars championship is impressive.”
He added, “The results of that are really starting to show with their first podium coming at Sandown, and I look forward to hopefully being a part of many more great results to come from next year.” Stanaway's racing career is diverse, featuring significant experience in Europe, where he competed for Aston Martin in the World Endurance Championship and participated in 22 GP3 races, achieving three wins. He also dominated the German F3 championship, clinching the title with 13 wins out of 18 races.
Team owner Peter Xiberras praised Stanaway's talent, noting, “There is no doubting Richie is exceptionally talented – you don’t have a CV like his or win the Bathurst 1000 by accident after all.” He acknowledged Stanaway's early exit at Sandown but expressed confidence in his abilities, especially under challenging conditions.
With Stanaway's confirmation at PremiAir Nulon, only two seats remain available for the upcoming Supercars season, both at Brad Jones Racing, where neither Jaxon Evans nor Macauley Jones has secured a position yet. Team owner Brad Jones has suggested an expectation of an unchanged lineup, which may complicate matters for former champion Mark Winterbottom, who is likely to miss out after being replaced at Team 18 by Anton de Pasquale. As the 2025 Supercars season approaches, Stanaway's move signals a new chapter in his career, and fans will be eager to see what he can achieve with PremiAir Nulon Racing.
