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Marcos Ambrose will return to his roots when the 30-year-old makes his NASCAR road course debut in the Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico this weekend. It will be Ambrose’s 25th NASCAR start and arguably his most anticipated, as the Team Australia ace aims to rekindle some of the skills that propelled him to the top of Australian motorsport earlier this decade. Ambrose had a stellar five-year career in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, amassing some of the most impressive statistics the sport has ever seen in Australia in a relatively short space of time.
After two championships, 15 round wins, earning one of the most outstanding qualifying records in the sport and leading Ford from a five-season championship drought back to the top of the sport in Australia, Ambrose decided to leave his home country for the world of NASCAR, moving his life and that of wife Sonja and infant daughter Tabitha with him. Now after a breakthrough debut season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and a two starts in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series in the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, Ambrose will finally make his road course debut in NASCAR.
Road course circuit racing was Ambrose’s lifeblood until his move to NASCAR in 2005, right from his Australian Karting Championship win in 1995, to his runner-up in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1997, his win in the 1999 European Formula Ford Championship and even his victory in the Honda Young Guns race in 2000 at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast, which then moved the Tasmanian-born driver into V8 Supercars, the pinnacle of motorsport in Australia. The last time Ambrose raced on a road course was the final round of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in Victoria, Australia in November 2005. Ambrose dominated the weekend, taking victory in his last V8 Supercar race.
Ambrose has been keen to make oval racing his priority ever since his arrival to NASCAR in 2005, concentrating solely on the oval-only NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season. But now a full-time Busch Series driver for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, Ambrose is pumped about returning to a road course as he aims to maintain his position in the top 10 of the Busch Series standings as well as his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.
Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
“We go to the Mexico City road course with a little bit of a wait and see approach, †said Ambrose.
“We had a really good test last month at the Virginia International Raceway road course, but now we have to go to Mexico and see how our car works down there.
“It’s our first road course race in NASCAR so there are still going to be plenty of things for me to learn, but I can go in with some added confidence and really give it my best shot.
“It’s a different style of track to what I have been driving on over here and it will be great to get back to road course racing. It’s still important to finish, but I’m really looking forward to the race and getting out there amongst it.
“I’m really enjoying driving on the ovals but this weekend will be a little bit of something different for me, where I can get back to what I had done for so many years. â€
Stats On Marcos Ambrose’s V8 Supercar Career
Championship Wins: Two (2003 and 2004)
Rounds: 65 (2001 – 2005)
Round Wins: 15
Round Podiums: 30
Pole Positions: 18
Front Row Start Positions: 29
Top 10 Shootout Appearances: 58
– One of only two drivers to ever win Pole Position for Australia’s greatest race, the Bathurst 1000, on debut
– Won Ford it’s first V8 Supercar Championship in five years in 2003 after GM Holden won five-consecutive titles
– Was the first Ford driver since Dick Johnson in 1988-1989 to win back-to-back championships – Won Pole Position for his first-ever V8 Supercar race, a non-championship event supporting the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne
– As well as championship victories in 2003 and 2004, Ambrose was eighth in the championship in his debut season and third in 2002 and 2005
– One of only 11 drivers to win more than one Australian Touring Car Championship, which began in 1960. Since the inception of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in 1997, the ATCC is awarded to the V8 Supercar Champion
Car Comparisons
NASCAR Busch Series Ford Fusion
Horsepower: 750 horsepower (559kw) @ 8400rpm
Top Speed: Approximately 195mph/314km/h
Engine: 358 cubic inch (5.866 litre) V8
Gearbox: Manual four-speed H-pattern
Wheelbase: 105 inches (2667mm)
Minimum Weight: 3400lbs (1542kg) without driver
Australian V8 Supercar Ford Falcon
Horsepower: 635 horsepower (474kw) @ 7500rpm
Top Speed: 185mph/298km/h
Engine: 302 cubic inch (5.0 litre) V8
Gearbox: Manual six-speed H-pattern
Wheelbase: 111 inches (2820mm)
Minimum Weight: 2987lbs (1355kg) without driver
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 2
1. Kevin Harvick 345
2. Carl Edwards 330
3. Matt Kenseth 327
4. Dave Blaney 309
5. Greg Biffle 289
6. Denny Hamlin 280
7. Tony Stewart 272
8. Kyle Busch 232
9. Regan Smith 223
10. Marcos Ambrose 203
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings – After Race 2
1. Marcos Ambrose 20
2. Kyle Krisiloff 17
3. David Ragan 16
4. Sam Hornish Jr 14
5. Juan Pablo Montoya 12
6. Timothy Peters 11
7. Robert Richardson 9
8. Brad Keselowski 9
9. Justin Diercks 1
