Getting into the Supercars is only part of the challenge. Keeping yourself there is another story.

Just ask Richie Stanaway.

There was a time when the Kiwi had the racing world at his feet.

He was a German Formel Masters and Formula 3 champion, a three-time GP3 race winner, a Monaco GP2 winner and a two-time WEC winner. Three times he finished in the top 10 in class at Le Mans. His sixth Supercars entry was a victory at the Sandown 500 with Cameron Waters, and they could’ve won Bathurst too were it not for a car problem.

So when he landed a full-time Supercars drive with Tickford in 2018, he seemed certain to become New Zealand’s next big thing.

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But at the end of the year he switched to Garry Rogers Motorsport, and at the end of 2019 the team withdrew from the championship.

Stanaway was back out of the sport after just two difficult seasons, and without an offer to continue, he announced his retirement.

“I was disappointed the way that Richie left in 2019, and to be honest I have a lot of guilt for that to tell you the truth,” Boost mobile founder Peter Adderton says, having been the architect of his move to GRM.

The switch was immediately controversial for forcing the retirement of Holden legend and fan favourite Garth Tander.

“I’m a marketer,” Adderton says. “At the time we put Richie in the car…