Kiwi driver Richie Stanaway has poured his energy into joining Kiwis Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin in a full-time assault on the Supercars championship next year.
The talented 25-year-old has enjoyed a successful European career including a factory Aston Martin drive but after a stint as co-driver in Supercars last year Stanaway wants to move back to Australasia full-time.
He will partner Cam Waters in this year's Pirtek Endurance Cup with races at Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast and hopes that leads to a permanent drive next year.
"The only thing that interests me is V8 Supercars so that is the only thing on the radar," Stanaway told herald.co.nz. "I am not planning on going back to Europe.
"Obviously being at the enduros this year as a co-driver and being around that paddock is what I need to push for a fulltime drive next year."
Stanaway caught the eye of many Supercars fans, teams and commentators with his impressive display as co-driver for Chris Pither at Super Black Racing last year. In particular, his drive in wet conditions at the Sandown 500 drew plenty of praise.
While he hinted at being interested in a fulltime drive in the category last year nothing really serious eventuated.
"There was no serious talk - there were some discussions around the Super Black license that was moving to BJR - some very brief discussions about that but nothing serious.
"Nothing obviously materialized for this year but hopefully we can put something together for next year."
It won't be easy for Stanaway to get a fulltime seat as many of the top spots are filled while others are used for drivers that bring sponsorship to the table.
-NZ Herald