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Marcos Ambrose

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Marcos Ambrose
Awards2003 and 2004 V8 Supercar champion
1999 European Formula Ford champion
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Car no., team
  1. 59 - Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
First race2007 Orbitz 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
3
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
2006 position21st
Best finish21st - 2006 (Craftsman Truck Series)
First race2006 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 1

Marcos Ambrose (born September 1, 1976 in Launceston, Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver.

Ambrose was the Australian V8 Supercar champion in 2003 and 2004, and is credited for virtually single-handedly reviving Ford Racing in Australia, after years of Holden domination.

In 2006 he raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, piloting the #20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford for Team Australia. He moved up to the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series, driving the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing.[1]

Early Years

Ambrose began racing karts at the age of ten. He won four Tasmanian state junior karting titles and was the Australian karting champion in 1995 in the Clubman Heavy class at the Dubbo circuit in New South Wales.

He moved into Formula Ford in 1996. The Ambrose family have a rich history in this formula as Marcos' father Ross Ambrose, along with Ralph Firman Sr, co-founded Formula Ford chassis builder Van Diemen. Ambrose finished second in the Australian Formula Ford championship in 1997.

In 1998 Ambrose moved to Europe in a bid to reach Formula 1, competing in British Formula Ford in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 he won the European Formula Ford Championship. In 2000 he began the season racing in the French Formula 3 Championship, before switching mid-season to the British Formula 3 Championship.

At the end of 2000 Ambrose did not have the budget to continue in racing in Europe, and returned to Australia. In October 2000 he was invited to compete in a Young Guns invitational race held at the Lexmark Indy 300. Ambrose won against a host of young drivers in Honda road cars.

2001-2005: V8 Supercars Australia

File:Marcos1.jpg
Ambrose in his Stone Brothers Racing Falcon at Indy 2005

For 2001 Ambrose was signed by Stone Brothers Racing to drive the Pirtek Racing Ford Falcon. Ambrose stunned the V8 Supercar world when he qualified on pole for his first ever V8 Supercar race, supporting the Australian Grand Prix (a non-championship event before the championship season). Qualified on pole again in round three at Eastern Creek Raceway, round 9 at Queensland Raceway and round 11, the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama Circuit.

Ambrose went on to finish eighth in the championship, winning the Rookie of the Year award. He won the fourth round of the season, at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, although he did not win any of the three races in the round.[2]

The 2002 season saw Ambrose start the season snaring the pole position at Phillip Island before recording his debut race win in the first race. He eventually finished third in the V8 Supercar Championship.

With a new BA Falcon, Ambrose gave the Ford team a great start to the 2003 season with victory in the first race of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. He followed this fantastic start with a third career win at Eastern Creek Raceway where he led Ford home to a memorable 1-2-3 at the Sydney track. This was Ford's first clean sweep of the podium since Eastern Creek 1997 and Ambrose’s first win for the season. After 13 rounds in the 2003 V8 Supercar Series, Ambrose was presented with the driver’s series trophy, 102 points clear of second place.

In 2004 Ambrose claimed three pole positions and five round wins and went into the final round at Eastern Creek Raceway with a virtually unbeatable lead. In the end he collected his second championship in the opening Saturday night race and then went on to clean-sweep the round in record-breaking style in his Pirtek Falcon. This was the first time Ford had won back-to-back titles since 1988-89. Teammate Russell Ingall also drove a superb final round to finish second in the championship, giving Stone Brothers Racing a memorable 1-2 Quinella finish.

Ambrose won the coveted Barry Sheene Medal in 2003 and 2004.

He started 2005 the way he ended 2004 with a clean sweep of the opening round in Adelaide. He remained in the championship lead until Round 10 at the Bathurst 1000 when he was involved in a controversial crash with Greg Murphy approaching The Cutting on the way up 'The Mountain' late in the race. The two drivers, infuriated with one another, shared some heated words after the crash.

Greg's probably going to blame me, because he tends to blame everyone but himself for these kinds of incidents. I knew that I was already 99% past him, I gave him a car-length and a half to go two-wide up into The Cutting, and I just got clean wiped out.

— Marcos Ambrose, on a TV Interview after Bathurst 2005

This crash, combined with a poor performance at the co-hosted (with the Champ Cars) round on the Gold Coast arguably lost him a third straight title. He thereafter supported teammate Russell Ingall's title bid successfully, and the two helped Ford and Stone Brothers Racing take the Drivers, Teams, and Manufacturer's championships. Ambrose finished third in the championship behind Ingall and fellow Ford driver, and good friend Craig Lowndes.

2006: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

File:Marcos Ambrose Team Australia Truck.JPG
Marcos Ambrose in his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Truck at Charlotte

At the first V8 Supercar race of 2005, Ambrose called a press conference on the Saturday morning to announce that he would leave V8 Supercars at the end of the 2005 season to try and make a career in NASCAR.

The Ford Motor Company signed Ambrose to participate overseas in the United States with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006. However, Ambrose had to wait until part way through the 2006 season to begin. NASCAR did not clear Ambrose to race the NCTS' first three races, as they were held on intermediate to high-speed ovals, and like fellow Wood Brothers/JTG Racing driver Bobby East, Ambrose was not cleared to start in the faster races. Ambrose made his Truck Series debut on April 1 2006 at the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, qualifying 20th and finishing 33rd after being caught up in an incident unfolding in front of him.[3]

Ambrose is the first notable Australian driver in a NASCAR series event since Dick Johnson in 1990.

Ambrose made history by finishing third in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on July 2, 2006. This was the first time a non-American driver has finished in the top five of a truck series event since Canadian Ron Fellows won on the Watkins Glen road course on June 26, 1999. He also took the lead in the opening laps, becoming the first Australian to lead laps in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition. The next week, he made further history by scoring his first Bud pole position for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway,[4] and then leading the most laps in the race itself, though he finished 19th.[5] Ambrose scored his second podium result of his debut Craftsman Truck Series season, finishing 3rd in the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway after qualifying 11th.

Ambrose reached as high as 19th in the championship points,[6] but finished the season 21st overall and 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings, despite having missed the first three races of the year.[1]

2007: NASCAR Busch Series

For 2007, Ambrose stepped up to the NASCAR Busch Series, putting him one step closer to his goal of a drive in the NEXTEL Cup. He drives the #59 Kingsford Ford Fusion fielded by Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, the same team he drove for in 2006 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In the first two races of the 2007 season, he finished on the lead lap, in 16th and 25th, on tracks he had never previously raced on.

In the third race of the season, the Telcel-Motorola México 200, Ambrose finished eighth, his career best at the time. having gained several positions in the last few laps of the race. He followed up his 8th place finish in Mexico with another top 10, finishing 10th in the Sam's Town 300 in Las Vegas, NV. He recorded a career best Busch Series finish of sixth after starting third. After 17 races in the season, Ambrose sits in the 7th position in the points standings, highest of any driver not also competing in the Nextel Cup and is 2nd in the Busch series Rookie of year, nine points behind David Ragan.

As of June 25th he is ranked 7th in the Busch series with 1756 points

Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards

Team Australia is a multi-levelled motorsport program headed by Australian businessman Craig Gore. It became the naming rights sponsors of Marcos Ambrose’s entry in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006 after his first race.

Team Australia are the sponsor of two-car Champ Car and Champ Car Atlantic Championship teams in the U.S., alongside several motorsport interests in Australia. The new sponsorship will be woven into a nation-wide marketing campaign designed to promote quality Australian and Australian-themed products and Australia as a tourism destination.

The green and gold Ford F-150 truck carried Team Australia, Aussie Vineyards and R. M. Williams signage.

Ambrose is very proud to drive for his own country in NASCAR, which is dominated by American cars & sponsors.

Profile facts

2007 NASCAR Busch Series
Personal
  • Date of Birth: 1 September 1976
  • Place of Birth: Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
  • Marital Status: Married to Sonya
  • Height: 179cm (5 ft. 8 in.)
  • Weight: 81kg (175 lbs.)
  • Hobbies: Golf, dirt bike riding, messing around on the tractor
  • Nickname: The Devil Racer, in reference to his native land of Tasmania. Also known as "The Thunder From Down Under", another nod to his native region. "Kangaroo Meat", a nickname given to him by Kevin Harvick and perpetuated by other NASCAR drivers upon his arrival on the circuit; another obvious reference to his home land.

References

  1. ^ a b "AMBROSE HAS TOP 10 RESULT SLIP AWAY IN MIAMI" (Press release). Marcos Ambrose. 18 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "2001 SCS Round 4 Overall Hidden Valley Raceway - 13/05/2001". VESRIX Vee Eight Supercar Statistics. conrod.com.au. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  3. ^ "Ford Race Notes: Martinsville". TruckSeries.com. April 1 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Charles Krall (July 8 2006). "Ambrose on Kentucky Truck Pole". TruckSeries.com. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Another Huge Day for Ambrose in Kentucky". TruckSeries.com. 9 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Official Driver Points Following Race 24 - Phoenix International Raceway - November 10, 2006". TruckSeries.com. 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Career results

Season Series Position Car Team
1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship 4th Swift SC95K Ford
1997 Australian Formula Ford Championship 2nd Van Diemen RF97 Ford
1998 British Formula Ford Championship 5th Van Diemen RF98 Ford Van Diemen
1999 British Formula Ford Championship 3rd Van Diemen RF99 Ford Van Diemen
1999 Formula Ford Euro Cup 1st Van Diemen RF99 Ford
2000 French Formula 3 Championship 12th Martini Mk.79 Sodemo-Renault Mygale
2000 British Formula 3 Championship 16th Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda Alan Docking Racing
2001 V8Supercar Championship Series 8th Ford Falcon AU Stone Brothers Racing
2002 V8Supercar Championship Series 3rd Ford Falcon AU Stone Brothers Racing
2003 V8Supercar Championship Series 1st Ford Falcon BA Stone Brothers Racing
2004 V8Supercar Championship Series 1st Ford Falcon BA Stone Brothers Racing
2005 V8Supercar Championship Series 3rd Ford Falcon BA Stone Brothers Racing
2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 21st Ford F-150 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Ford Fusion Wood Brothers/JTG Racing


Preceded by Winner of the V8Supercar Championship Series
2003 & 2004 		Succeeded by
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