Stanaway linked to WAU 2020 Supercars drive after GRM controversy

Stanway's Supercars future has become uncertain after Garry Rogers Motorsport announced its departure from Supercars at the end of 2019.

A further twist came when Stanaway was stood down for the Gold Coast race after missing scheduled fan signing session before qualifying, and it is yet to be determined if he will return for Sandown and Newcastle.

Stanaway's benching is the latest twist in his turbulent Supercars career after falling out with Tickford Racing during 2018, and he suffered the setback of a neck injury this year. Stanway is understood to be talking to several teams about a 2020 drive, including WAU.

WAU is set for an all-new line-up next season as Chaz Mostert is expected to take one seat, and Stanaway is among those in contention for the other.

There is also a link between Stanaway and sponsor Boost Mobile, which played a key role in landing him the GRM seat for 2019.

Boost boss Peter Adderton is currently in a stand-off with Supercars over improving technical parity, having pledged to not be a major team sponsor until a control upright is introduced.

Supercars is not planning to make such a move until at least 2022, and it played a key part in GRM's exit from Supercars.

Adderton has indicated via social media that the company is still open to backing individual drivers, which leaves the door ajar for a potential Stanaway/WAU tie-up.

After winning yesterday's Gold Coast race, close friend Shane van Gisbergen made a public plea for Stanaway to not give up Supercars.

"I had some good chats with him the last few weeks and then again told him to call me this week," said van Gisbergen.

"He's been through a tough few years, and he's probably a bit misunderstood in some ways publicly.

"He's a ripper of a kid, and what he went through in Europe, pretty isolated there when he broke his back and stuff.

"It's taken a long time to recover from it, but he's a star driver and probably hasn't had the right stuff to show his potential here and obviously he's been frustrated by it.

"When you race in Europe and that, you don't do any media stuff, you just race the car and that's it, and that's a lot of your job here.

"He probably hasn't had the right training or the right attitude for it, and that's reflected a bit.

"He's a ripper of a kid, I just hope he doesn't give up with his racing and keeps charging. I thought Garry would have been good for him, but he hasn't really moved forward.

"I hope we all don't give up on him. He's a good kid."