A true Champion.

[billy bigtime]

I've always said "to be a true Champion, you must be a Champion on and of the track".
Congratulations to Marcos Ambrose on his apology. Take note Mr.Skaife.

[hrt_rulz01]

skaifey is one of the most (if not the most) popular drivr in the field. why is that? because he's a good driver & he's is a nice guy! i dont see why he should take note? that eastern creek drama with ingall (which was ages ago anyway) should not be the only incident he should be judged on! he has been a true champion!

[Wrighty05]

Didn't Skaife also apologise in '03 Eastern Creek. Not for the incident but for his antics afterwards.

[DKGandBH]

So how does...

Cause an accident putting the competition out
Denying all responsibility (and actually blaming the other person) for the accident
Being found guilty of causing the accident
Being punished for said accident
Spitting the dummy about the punishment
Being punished for the dummy spitting
Then apologising...

make him a champion ?

DKGandBH

[HRT433]

Originally Posted by Wrighty05

Didn't Skaife also apologise in '03 Eastern Creek. Not for the incident but for his antics afterwards.

yeah, don't recall anything from Mr Ingall either....

Ambrose doesn't deserve any credit for his apology, sure he said it, but he didn't write it or think it up, he had SBR/Ford PR to thank for that. The Ford media shovels had to work hard to dig him out of his hole.

Don't get me wrong, I also believe this is the case whenever a statement is made, no matter who it is.

[v8fan]

geez you guys who have to drag skaife into everything are pathetic.

for the record, good on marcos for his words however they came about. i'm sure it was a learning experience in a tough role he plays. whilst his original actions were pretty high on the dumbometer he's not the first and won't be the last to go through it. the public eye is not any easy one to navigate i'm sure. he like anyone out there is only human and makes mistakes.

as for skaife, murphy, ingall or anyone else you care to drag up as having been a **** the same applies. i have a great amount respect for all the drivers and whilst i will comment when they do the wrong thing i will also think highly of them when they right things. those who can't are real pathetic in my book, put yourselves in any of their positions.

skaife and ambrose are both great champions.

[v8babe]

Originally Posted by v8fan

skaife and ambrose are both great champions.

... just one's more mature than the other! Maybe it has something to do with winning 3 more championships than MA and 4 bathursts too.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by v8racer

... just one's more mature than the other! Maybe it has something to do with winning 3 more championships than MA and 4 bathursts too.

...or being 10 years older?


All you need to be a Champion is a head like a spark plug

[billy bigtime]

Originally Posted by v8racer

... just one's more mature than the other!

That's certainly true. It's about time Skaife grew up and stoped spitting the dummy.

[v8babe]

Lol... gee I love this Holden v Ford rivalry... nothing like stirring the pot huh.

[Malik]

Yup... many congratulations to Mr FIGJAM for the perfect recitation of the canned apology he was handed.....

[The Hrt Kid]

i saw in auto action today and i didnt read the article as i ran out of time and aa is at work in the middle how it is half and half ambrose that ambrose is well known to be arogant and something else. i will read it tomorrow, but has anyone else read it?

[phoneAho]

WOW does that mean if i apologised i will be a >>>>TRUE<<<< champion?

[F J Nedos]

Ambrose buggered up. He apologised. Whether or not he wrote it or not, he didn't really have to do apologise. There were parts of it that really sounded heartfelt, and other bits which sounded like they were based on fear (of putting major dents in his Ford trip to the US).

While I think Ambrose was in the wrong, I think Channel 10 should exercise better judgement in interviewing someone who was clearly fired up straight out of the car. You heard him on the radio, he was going off. He was revved up about penalties, he drove hard through a field and was clearly angry at the world. Maybe SBR needed to pull him aside straight out of the car, have a quiet word to him, then channel 10 could get a word with him once he had cooled down.

[mac]

Originally Posted by F J Nedos

Maybe SBR needed to pull him aside straight out of the car, have a quiet word to him, then channel 10 could get a word with him once he had cooled down.

What fun would that be?

[deeks6]

AVESCO need to take a good look at NASCAR and the way the drivers are treated and allowed to act. If they "really" **** up on the track, they are penalised with a drive-through but this is "liberal" as "evening-up" is almost tolerated. Rubbin is racing, as they say...
The point though is they don't go for all this AFL-type sanitised "bringing the game into disrepute" rubbish that we seem to be obsessed with in Australian sport. It is treating the fans like they are stupid and this "We know what's good for you" attitude needs to stop. Most motor sport fans (and people in general) can distinguish between a spur-of-the-moment heated comment and treat it as such. The commenter will look like a goose if he is wrong anyway and, usually, they admit that after cooling down.
The field of drivers in V8SC are a fairly mature and sensible bunch of blokes and will see reason eventually...but guys like Ambrose, Skaife, Ingall, Lowndes, Murphy are fierce, uncompromising competitors and don't give an inch - Long may this be the case - and, understandably, will be a bit p1ssed off if things don't go their way. Thats what makes them the best in the first place. LET THEM TALK and LET THEM TALK again after they have cooled down. Sheesh...
As for Barbagallo, I was wrong in hindsight just like Marcos. I regarded it as a 50-50 racing incident but, according to the strict interpretation of the rule, the decision is correct (but certainly NOT the extra 25pts). Interestingly, Skaife said on SEN Morning Glory that, in these situations, you push the man as far as you can to get him to concede and try to get him on the grass. Thats racing - and if the positions were reversed, it "may" have been the same...
As for the Ford (I'm one) and Holden fans having a go at Ambrose and Skaife in terms of their character, that really annoys me. Yes, they have been arrogant, but when you are on a big winning streak as these guys have been, it's difficult to be humble ... and why not add a little spice and needle the opposition a tad...ever heard of the Australian cricket team?
But these guys are two of the very best race drivers produced in this country and both are generally extremely clean racers. Sure, both have made the odd mistake and caused an incident (but rarely) and, IMO, unintentionally. Both deserve a little more respect. Skaife, in particular, is (apart from Craig Lowndes) the best and cleanest overtaker in the field (Ambrose included). There are plenty of others in the pack that are not (e.g BPB, Dumbell, R Kelly, Besnard, Tander, Morris) so.
A little post-script:
What was different about the Weel/Ambrose start in Race 3 compared to the Skaife/Ambrose incident?
Weel did'nt get pinged because Ambrose backed out of it!

[Conrod Kieron]

Very good post Deeks. I'm getting sick of this santised bull**** that get thrust upon us.

Fact is, incidents such as this get more media coverage for the V8's than usual, its not going to turn people away from watching them and infact is more likely to attract more people, so much for bringing the sport into disrepute!!!!

I rewatched the Wanneroo round again last night and it was interesting to note MA didn't push Skaife onto the grass at all, Paul Weel certainly pushed MA onto the grass and got him crossed up, but got away without even a mention. The only difference between the two was the outcome so it looks like you can now squeeze a driver and get away with it if the squeezed doesn't crash out, now that is poor officialdom.

[Flameho]

Well said Deeks. It's ironic that the people that lay the charges of "bringing the sport into disrepute" are often doing it more so than the drivers. This charge is rapidly becoming the charge that you get when officials want to get you and there is no other charge that can be laid down.

[Marcos Skaife]

What you Australian chaps forget (or don`t realise) is that the rest of the world perceive you as bad winners and even worse losers.

Cricket,rugby,tiddlywinks and all olympic sports you are in our faces rubbing it in when you win and when you lose you get the sulks and we get no comment while the bottom lip quivers like a rubber band!!

Do you really expect a high adrenalin sport with testosterone to spare to be even remotely different? We often (probably because we are desperately unhappy cause we lost............................again!!) see this as arrogance , which it is!! But you won and that is all that matters isn`t it!!

To summarise ,to win you have to have the confidence that you can win and this can be taken as arrogance. Sometimes it is and other times it still is!

These boys win championships , it is not a popularity contest. They can have the personality of a large brick and it doesn`t matter as long as they can peddle!!

If it was a popularity contest Glenn Seton would still be winning!!

[mac]

Originally Posted by Marcos Skaife

What you Australian chaps forget (or don`t realise) is that the rest of the world perceive you as bad winners and even worse losers.

Cricket,rugby,tiddlywinks and all olympic sports you are in our faces rubbing it in when you win and when you lose you get the sulks and we get no comment while the bottom lip quivers like a rubber band!!

Sorry? Where did this come from?