Richie Stanaway labels Blanchard Bend DSQ as "very disappointing"
Kiwi starred in dramatic wet-dry Bend 500 alongside James Golding
Stanaway believes BRT has the ingredients to fight for Bathurst win
A determined Richie Stanaway is determined to set a path to Bathurst victory, which would help James Golding seal a come-from-behind Finals berth.
Stanaway was a revelation in his first Supercars race since the 2025 Gold Coast 500, putting on a show in challenging conditions at last Sunday’s Bend enduro.
The New Zealander started 18th in Golding’s #7 CoolDrive Ford, and amid heavy rain, delivered his latest wet weather masterclass to light up the race.
In a spellbinding charge, Stanaway — who set the tone by topping the wet morning Warm Up — marched to 13th on lap 1, sat sixth by lap 5, and was up to second by lap 24.
From there, though, the day slowly unravelled, before being undone completely when both Blanchard Racing Team Fords were scratched from the results over a drive time breach.
The outcome was painful for all involved. The team released an impassioned statement apologising for the misstep, which dropped Golding from 10th to 14th in the points, and needing a Bathurst miracle to make Finals.
“It's very disappointing. It was such a hard race, so to not get any points for it is a pretty tough blow,” Stanaway told Supercars.com.
"It's a long week, and everyone's been putting in a huge amount of work to go there and be strong. Obviously we would've liked to have been on the podium, but coming seventh is still a good points haul.
"It's just a tough one for everyone. But as long as we use it to come back stronger at Bathurst and not let it get us down, and just use it to come back stronger, then it may help us at Bathurst to get a good result there.
“When it's double points, if you have a DNF it really stings, especially for the teams’ championship. But it's in the past now, so all we can do is just learn from it and come back stronger.”
Heading into race day, the Golding/Stanaway Ford hadn’t been a factor. The BRT cars qualified 17th and 18th, and looked set for a long day.
Stanaway admitted his team didn’t get a handle on the Mustang until Sunday’s Warm Up, claiming: “We just took too long to get it in the right window. With the way the weather played out, we still don't really know how competitive we would've been in the full dry."
Fortunately for all watching, it rained — and that’s when Stanaway got down to business, sending another reminder that he is among the the very best when the conditions are at their most challenging.
“After the bad quali, we knew it was going to be difficult for us to get to the front in the dry. I would've been happy for it to be dry or wet either way,” Stanaway said.
"It's hard to be confident because one minute you can look like a guru, but then it only takes a slight lapse in concentration, and the consequence for making a mistake is far greater.
“When you're sitting on the grid, it's hard to know what to expect. But it's nice when you can piece together a good couple of stints. It went away from us a little bit when we got closer to the front and it rained a lot heavier, and we didn't really have much speed.
"I just had to let the guys at the front go because if I tried to get it all the way to the front, I probably would've ended up off the track. It was a really, really difficult phase for a while. I knew we would be better as it dried out, so every time I saw rain on the windscreen, it wasn't the best feeling.
“It didn't really stay dry enough for long enough for me to make back that time that we'd lost in the full wet to the leader. I think if we could have had a bit more pace in the true wet, it could’ve made the rest of our day a bit easier. Regardless, I’m pretty happy."
Stanaway’s performance wasn’t lost on some of the sport’s greatest. Notably, Greg Murphy labelled Stanaway as “phenomenal,” while Garth Tander said his showing was “exceptional."
When asked about the legends’ comments, Stanaway replied: “It's nice to hear that praise. I really look up to a lot of those older guys from the previous generation.
“Racing in Supercars has always been really special to me from having watched those guys race when I was a kid. Now that a lot of those guys don't race anymore, I actually miss that part of it.
“When I first joined Supercars as a co-driver, a lot of those guys were still co-driving which made it quite fun for me.”
Stanaway's mission, now, is clear — win the Great Race, and get Golding into the post-season, something the latter still believes he can achieve.
Stanaway forecasts a big debrief for BRT, but believes it is a team that can get the job done, saying: “We've got a lot of work to do just to review our week, and there's gonna be a lot for us to work on.
"It's not about just getting solid points. Now that we've had that big setback and Jimmy's now further out of the Finals contention than what we would've liked, we’ve just got to do everything we can to try and win that race. That's the mentality we need to take to Bathurst.
“We need to go there with an aggressive mindset, and I think we have the team to do it. It's just about piecing it all together and just trying to execute, and taking what we learned from Tailem Bend and just building on that for the next one."
