Groves to blood Stanaway at Gulf 12 Hours

Richie Stanaway will undertake his first competitive outing with Grove Racing before the year is out, in next month’s Gulf 12 Hours.

The New Zealander will share a Porsche 911 GT3 R with Stephen and Brenton Grove in the once-around-the-clock race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Stanaway has signed up to drive one of the Penrite Racing Ford Mustangs in next year’s Repco Supercars Championship, and got acquainted with that hardware in a post-Gold Coast 500 ride day at Queensland Raceway.

However, the 2023 Bathurst 1000 winner will not have to wait until 2024 to make his first competitive outing in a Grove Racing entry, with the Gulf 12 Hours taking place on December 8-10.

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It is part of Stephen Grove’s plans for his Supercars drivers, including new race winner Matt Payne, to rack up extra mileage outside of their Mustangs.

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“I want both drivers to do as much driving as they can within a certain arena,” he told Speedcafe.

“I’m not sure rally’s the right arena,” quipped Grove. “We want to keep them fit and safe and healthy.

“We want to adapt those guys, we want to get them into the car.

“Richie’s coming to Abu Dhabi with us in two weeks to race with us in the Porsche.

“He’s never driven a Porsche before, so we’ll get to spend the 12 Hours with him and there’s about six or seven hours of practice.

“So, we’ll get to spend a lot of time, and it’s not just working together, it’s actually being in the car together, working through data together, working through set-up, driver changes… all the things that will build our relationship with Richie.”

The Groves are regulars in GT3 competition around the world, including contesting the full Intercontinental GT Challenge season this year, with Stephen and Brenton sharing a Porsche with Earl Bamber or Anton De Pasquale.

Stanaway comes from something of a sportscar/GT background, including as a race winner for Aston Martin in the LMGTE Pro class of the World Endurance Championship.

In Supercars, Grove won two of the last three races of the now-completed season, including Payne’s breakthrough in the last 24 hours at the Vailo Adelaide 500.