Ambrose to stay with Ford till 2009

[fpv_gtho]

Ambrose and Ford extend contract

Release Date: 03/11/2004

V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) is to continue driving a Ford until at least the end of 2009 with the announcement of an extension to his current contract.
Ambrose, who currently holds a sizeable lead (166 points) in the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series, signed the contract extension today at an autograph session for his book 'The Devil Racer' and in the process confirmed his long-term commitment to Australia.
Along with his team, Stone Brothers Racing, Ambrose has led the way in Ford's revival on Australian racetracks. Ambrose has set the standard for Ford drivers in the V8 Supercar Championship Series since his debut in 2001.
Ambrose's new deal will include a role as ambassador to aspiring young racers through Formula Ford. Ambrose will work closely with the development of young drivers, in the process providing them with knowledge of the racing business on and off the track.
The long-term deal is also aimed at raising Ambrose's personal profile with an increased involvement in Ford promotions and advertising campaigns.
The V8 Supercar Champion's record on the track is impressive, with 12 overall round wins, 22 podium finishes and 15 pole positions, all from 50 starts.
“This is just what I wanted, long-term stability with a car maker who's extremely serious about winning races and championships,” said Ambrose.
“I've made many sacrifices to establish my racing career. It's very satisfying to know that all the hard work can pay off.
“There's still a lot to achieve and Ford, along with Stone Brothers Racing, will play a big part in making that happen.
“Part of that plan definitely includes another championship. We won it last year and ideally we can close out the 2004 championship at my home track at Symmons Plains outside Launceston on November 14.
“My new role with Formula Ford is a great initiative from Ford. Identifying talent isn't always easy, but my experience both in V8 Supercars as well as Formula Ford will help men help a new generation of young drivers further their careers in racing.”
Announcing the long-term deal, Australian President Tom Gorman underlined Ford's commitment to continued success on the track.
“Marcos has made his name with Ford and we wanted to make sure he stayed with us long-term,” said Gorman.
“Marcos is more than just a great race driver on the track. He is also an outstanding ambassador for our Ford Australia dealers, the fans and the next generation of drivers.
“His dedication to winning is unquestioned and his personable approach is something that we all admire”.
After three years in Europe, Ambrose burst onto the Australian scene in 2001 with pole position on debut at the Australian Grand Prix support event. From that point he's never looked back and his championship of 2003, that included six round wins, is true testimony to his outstanding ability.

[holdens]

wow... thats not good news for holden but then again ambrose most likely wouldnt switch to holden anyway
do you no weather jason bright is going to be driving a ford or a holden next season with his own team?.... im gonna die if its ford coz he is my favourite driver.

[fpv_gtho]

its about 50/50......he WANTS to drive for his own Holden team, but FPR are willing to give him a million dollars a year if he joins FPR. They'll also support him in making his own team if he signs for 2 years at FPR. If that happens, its likely to be him and Greg Ritter at FPR, with Owen Kelly at Bright's team, with him becoming the driver in 2007

[holdens]

thats heeps good money but dam he better not move.... im sorta sick of loosing our high profile drivers to ford... lownds, ingel and now maybe bright
still as long as we have murph, rick kelly (as much as i hate him for taking out jason bright at indy) skaife (not a huge fan of him either) todd kelly, tander and hopefully bright..

[fpv_gtho]

Tander could do some great things at Kmart, so i think he'll want to give that a few years to pan out before thinking of a major change like what Lowndes did.

Something thats bound to be on alot of peoples minds though is if Bright has done any better since leaving SBR.....he did win Ford's last Bathurst afterall, but he has 2 round wins to his credit this year, im unsure what he got with HRT

[holdens]

hrt he was second to skaify in nearly everything.... so im not sure he got many (if any) yeah i think he did better with sbr as much as i hate to say it.... still he was a BIG issue to ambrose this year.

[fpv_gtho]

well this year PWR were the pace setters, Castrol and SBR both had fast cars, but PWR found that little bit extra, and most importantly, started the season that way. Ambrose has held him off though, but now it looks like its all been in vain for Bright. What makes it worse is the final 2 rounds are all 3 race sprint events, so even if Ambrose gets a DNF, he's only sacrificing 64 points, thats bugger all with the 166 points he has over Bright. there is a twilight race coming up at EC2 so that could prove to be interesting, but Ambrose has the chance to wrap up the title at his homeland of Tasmania..

I remember when they were wrapping up Bathurst2002, they basically said that Bright was the only one that had a chance to catch Skaife, and that wouldve been with wins at surfers, pukekohe and sandown but it never happened.....murph of course tool puke and Ambrose took Sandown by the scruff of the neck from the first practise...