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After impressive results in both pre-season tests, Status GP sign 23-year old Richie Stanaway for the first race weekend of 2015 in Bahrain.
Stanaway has already competed in GP3 with the Status GP team in 2014. Being among the frontrunners throughout the entire season, he has proven to be capable of winning races and challenging for the title in GP2’s sister series. Status GP aims to be competitive right from the start of their inaugural season in GP2 and Stanaway has the experience and skill that makes him a valuable addition to lay a good foundation for success.
“It’s never easy selecting drivers to represent your team, especially if your aim is to be competitive in Formula 1‘s strongest feeder series”, says team principal Teddy Yip. ” Since completing the post-season test in Abu Dhabi for us last year Richie has been our GP2 driver of choice to team up with GP3 race winner Marlon Stockinger and we have been working closely with Richie’s supporters to make this happen.
“There is no question about Richie’s talent as a driver and we have first-hand experience of his commitment and desire to win following our joint GP3 campaign last year. I’m convinced that with the right resources he could be a future World Champion and I sincerely hope we can find a way for Richie to contest the full GP2 season with Status Grand Prix.”
Stanaway adds: “Firstly I would like to thank Teddy and David for having confidence in my ability and allowing me to drive for Status in their first GP2 race. The Series is always tough for rookies but that is part of the appeal, my aim remains to reach Formula 1 and being competitive in GP2 brings me one step closer to achieving that.
“Now that I’ve been given the opportunity to start the GP2 season with Status I just have to keep focussed and drive well. If I’m able to drive in both GP2 and the WEC, which I think really complement each other, it would be the best year of my career so far.
“Having completed all of the GP2 pre-season tests with the team, I know how strong we can be. The engineers have so much experience, it’s a pleasure to work with them and is really confidence inspiring. We seem to work on the same frequency and I’m sure there is no limit to what we can achieve as a team given the chance.”
