Marcos Ambrose
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Marcos Ambrose in his Team Australia colours |
Marcos Ambrose (born
September 1,
1976 in
Launceston, Tasmania) is an
Australian racing driver currently racing in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for
Team Australia.
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.
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.
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. Ambrose went on to finish eighth in the championship, winning the Rookie of the Year award.
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 taken out late in the race by
Greg Murphy, with whom he shared some heated words after the crash. 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.
He thereafter supported teammate
Russell Ingall's title bid successfully, and finished third in the championship behind the aformentioned Ingall, and fellow
Ford driver,
Craig Lowndes. The three drivers also helped
Ford to the manufacturers title.
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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. [
1]
Ambrose is the first notable
Australian driver in a national
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 [
2], and then leading the most laps in the race itself, though he finished 19th. [
3]
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 already 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 weaved into a nation-wide marketing campaign designed to promote quality Australian and Australian-themed products and Australia as a tourism destination.
The new green and gold
Ford F-150 truck carries
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.
Car Number: 20
Team:
Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
Sponsors:
Team Australia, Aussie Vineyards, Aussie Experience, RM Williams
Team Owner: Tad Geschickter
Crew Chief: Gary Cogswell
Engine Builder: Roush-Yates
Date of Birth: 1st September 1976
Place of Birth:
Launceston,
Tasmania,
AustraliaMarital Status: Married to Sonya
Height: 179cm
Weight: 81kg
Hobbies:
Golf, dirt bike riding, messing around on the tractor
*
Marcos Ambrose Official Site*
Team Australia Official Site
