Grove confirms Stanaway Supercars signing after Reynolds exit; Percat leaves WAU

Grove kickstarted a day of driver action in the driver transfer market by announcing it will part ways with 2017 Bathurst champion Reynolds.

In a brief statement, the team said: “Penrite Racing wish to make a statement regarding their 2024 driver line-up.

“Penrite Racing will not be renewing David Reynolds’ contract for 2024. We wish Dave the best in his future endeavours.”

Reynolds is set to join Team 18 alongside Mark Winterbottom, replacing Scott Pye in the #20 Camaro.

It is not entirely clear what that means for Grove Racing's naming rights backer Penrite, which has been closely tied to Reynolds since both driver and sponsor were at Erebus Motorsport.

David Reynolds, Grove Racing Ford Mustang GT

Photo by: Edge Photographics

This news was swiftly followed by formal confirmation of the Stanaway deal, which Autosport exclusively reported late last week. Prior to the move, Stanaway had been strongly linked to replace Shane van Gisbergen at Triple Eight, a drive instead secured by Will Brown.

Stanaway will be teamed with fellow Kiwi Matt Payne, who will head into his second season as a Supercars full-timer next year.

“I would like to thank Penrite Racing for the incredible opportunity to be a part of the team next year," said Stanaway. 

"I've been impressed by the direction the team has been heading in recent years and have been enjoying my time in the Gen3 era thus far so I am excited to see what we can achieve together.” 

Team owner Stephen Grove said the expectation is that Stanaway will be able to fight for race wins and titles. 

“As we continue to build the race team, securing a driver of Richie’s calibre is extremely exciting, giving the team the opportunity to challenge for race wins and championships," he said. 

"Richie’s experience and feedback will be great for the team to further develop moving forward."

Completing the trio of driver announcements, Nick Percat’s expected departure from Walkinshaw Andretti United was confirmed after a couple of tough seasons where he has struggled to match team-mate Chaz Mostert’s pace.

Nick Percat, Walkinshaw Andretti United

“We want to thank Nick for being a big part of our team for the past two seasons, but also his entire time with us over the journey," said team co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw.

"Of course, we both hoped to achieve more together, but with four rounds remaining this year, including the Bathurst 1000, Sandown 500 and Adelaide 500, we are all pushing to finish on a high. Everyone here wishes him all the best for the future.”

Percat added: “My time with the WAU family has come to an end and I wish we could have had the results we both wanted and expected. 

"I have loved my time working alongside Chaz and it’s cool to say we will be lifelong friends. To the team, thank you for the tireless effort and hours spent trying to unlock the speed from car #2, [the podium at the 2022] Adelaide 500 is something I’ll never forget. 

Percat's replacement is expected to be young Kiwi Ryan Wood, who currently drives for WAU in the second-tier Super2 series. 

Fabian Coulthard was in the running for the drive but has since dropped out of contention.