The official Marcos Ambrose thread

[monaroCountry]

NNS: Edwards, Ambrose Having Grand Time
Written by: Jonathan Ingram
RacinToday.com http://www.RacinToday.com
08/28/2009



Can NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose win the Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Montreal?

“We don’t expect to win it, but we want to put up a good challenge,” said Ambrose.

The Australian and Edwards will become the latest NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to participate in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Some have fared better than others aboard the Daytona Prototypes in the series founded by the France family and currently owned by NASCAR.

Kyle Busch overshot the chicane twice at the Daytona round of the Grand-Am in July, flat-spotting his tires and forcing unscheduled pit stops for the Chip Ganassi Racing team. That put co-driver Scott Speed, a Formula One veteran, at a disadvantage. On the other hand, ex-Formula One driver and current NASCAR regular Juan Pablo Montoya is a two-time winner in the prestigious 24-hour Rolex race at Daytona with Ganassi.

“I think people will be impressed at how quickly they adapt to the car,” said Kevin Doran, the veteran owner of the Dallara-Ford chassis Edwards and Ambrose will drive. Sponsorship comes from Aflac and Subway for Edwards plus iRacing.com and Aussie wines for Ambrose.

In a recent test at the Virginia International Raceway, Doran himself was impressed. That’s not easy to do with a former crew chief for five-time Camel GT champion Al Holbert and a five-time winner at Daytona’s 24-hour as a crew chief, team owner and car constructor.

“They took to the car really quickly, surprisingly quickly,” said Doran
of the test that ran aproximately 50 laps.

“Both drivers have raced at Montreal in the Nationwide Series, so they both know the course already,” continued Doran. “Marcos has driven cars that are slower than this and faster (on road courses). He has a feel for sports cars. For Carl, it was probably the hardest cornering and the highest g-forces of a car he’s ever been in. It was a different animal for him.”

Edwards likened the Daytona Prototype to a space vehicle. “There’s all this carbon fiber around you, the windshield is round and you have all these switches on the dashboard,” he said. He also compared the Dallara-Ford to a dirt track vehicle.

“It was so fast, it was like a winged sprint car,” he said.

After driving single-seater Formula Fords in Europe in pursuit of a Formula One ride and having won the Australian V8 Supercar Series championship twice in Ford Falcons, Ambrose was in his element aboard a purpose-built road racing machine.

“It was the most fun I’ve ever had driving a race car,” he said of the test. “It would do anything you wanted it to do. You drive it so aggressively and you got speed out of it.”

The biggest adjustment for either driver is the perennial issue of learning to pass the slower GT class cars such as the Porsche GT3, Mazda RX.8 and Pontiac GXP.R. “That’s going to be something completely different for them,” said Doran. The GT field will include NASCAR Nationwide regular Brendan Gaughn in a Porsche GT3 entry from TRG Motorsports.

Doran expects his duo will be able to mix it up with the other Daytona Prototype drivers. “You have to be careful about a low percentage pass,” said Doran. “But these guys want to win. They’re going to go for it. That’s what they get paid to do and that’s what they’re going to do.”

Scott Pruett of the Ganassi team believes the Sprint Cup regulars will fit in well at Montreal. Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas lead the Daytona Prototype championship by four points over Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty of GAINSCO Racing.

“I know Carl real well,” said Pruett. “I don’t know Marcos very well. But, you know, Carl will go out there and be a great competitor and certainly
won’t do anything to disrupt the championship. But at the same time, every race car driver wants to go out and run, run as fast as they can.”

Rules for the two-hour race require two drivers. The driver who qualifies must start and each team must make a pit stop within the first 45 minutes, a procedure used to equate fuel mileage. Doran expects the fuel window to open after about 50 minutes, depending on caution laps, meaning pit strategy remains a toss-up.

Given Ambrose’s road racing experience, it will be a tough call for Doran to choose who qualifies, then starts and who finishes. “I think they’ll both end up leaving it up to me to decide,” he said.

The most likely scenario is for a driver change in the first 45 minutes, then a gas only stop after the fuel window is open during a caution period. That points to Ambrose finishing, because the second driver will get the most seat time.

In any event, team owner Doran expects to qualify somewhere in the top ten. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we qualified in the top eight,” he said.

[GTRMagic]

Preview Here

Interesting that Mr Ambrose says he wants to do the Daytona 24hr... he has had one event there, in a John Tuelan-owned ex-TRG Porsche 911... went like a jet till the car fell to bits due to preparation challenges.

[monaroCountry]

They did go pretty well in that first attempt with a so so car, very limited budget and from what I understood basically no spare parts. This time around, Ambrose should have a better attempt, especially now that he is a known NASCAR driver and actually lives in America.

As previously predicted, Carl Edwards qualified the car into 8th spot and will be running the first stint. Ambrose will follow up with the longer stint and will be finishing the race.

[Silver 3]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Preview Here

Interesting that Mr Ambrose says he wants to do the Daytona 24hr... he has had one event there, in a John Tuelan-owned ex-TRG Porsche 911... went like a jet till the car fell to bits due to preparation challenges.

Teulan leased that car-he did not own it.

[fieldodreams79]

shouldn't this be in the sportscar category?

love both of these drivers, even tho they drive Fords, but i will definetly be pulling for them. 8th starting spot will give them a chance in this series.

[fieldodreams79]

oops!
nice carl....nice.
there's always tomorrow boys, there's always tomorrow,

[monaroCountry]

Any new news on how they are going?

[monaroCountry]

Short day for Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose in Grand-Am Rolex Series race



MONTREAL – Carl Edwards’ first foray into the Grand-Am Rolex Series ranks ended before it could hardly begin.

Edwards was circling Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on the warmup lap for Saturday’s Montreal 200 sports-car race when a combination of rain and cold, slick tires caused his No. 77 Doran Racing Dallara to lose grip and slide off the track.

The incident ended the day early for Edwards and fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Marcos Ambrose, who had teamed up for the event and qualified eighth.

“Wrecked that early?” Edwards said. “That’s a new record for me. … What got me there is two things: These tires take so long to get grip and [are] so much different than what I’m used to. And I worked in the tires as good as I can. It started sprinkling just a little bit. And I just got a little too aggressive at a medium-speed corner, and it swapped [ends]. And I was at full lock. I feel terrible.”

Both drivers will compete in Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the 2.71-mile road course.

Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle won the race. Nationwide Series driver Brendan Gaughan teamed with Andy Lally to finish second in the GT class. Lally will also attempt to qualify for the Nationwide race for JD Motorsports.

[monaroCountry]

Doh how embarrassing, hopefully these two will get another crack at Grand Am and put up a better showing.
Some people actually predicted a Carl Edwards crash early, I didnt believe that it could actually happen, especially when Carl qualified 8th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D3TM3r33Rwc4

You have to wonder how they would have gone if Marcos Ambrose qualified the car and drove the first stint, especially how skillfully he drove in the rain in his Nationwide car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Osf4aNXxg

[gomick]

Yep, very wet up there - sure was a hard hit by Edwards...

[peckstar]

marcos ambrose one of the best road races in North America (thanks Monaro country)

TEAM USF1 here we come

and now this thread should be in 3 categories

[monaroCountry]

AMBROSE SCORES POLE IN MONTREAL


Marcos Ambrose has scored pole position for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada on a mixed day for the Australian NASCAR ace.

It was in wet conditions that Ambrose scored pole later in the day, making his second NASCAR Nationwide Series appearance of the season in the #47 Armor All entry of JTG Daugherty Racing.

Ambrose was over a second quicker than second-placed Edwards in qualifying, ahead of Canadian and defending race winner Ron Fellows in third place.


QUESTION: Have you raced in the rain before?

“I grew up in the rain. I've lived half my life from one of the wettest places in the world. In Tasmania (Australia), we get about 200 days of rain, probably scattered throughout. I'm used to running in the rain.

“I've raced go karts in the snow and all those things. I'm just used to it, racing in Europe in Formula cars in the rain. I've raced in some really bad conditions and I guess it’s experience in these conditions that helps you not make mistakes and get the most out of your car without making errors.

“That's what I did today. I didn't necessarily have the fastest lap I could have put together. That's not what it was about, we didn't have a back up to rely on so I had to be very careful out there and just put in a solid lap and hope the conditions would go my way, which they did.”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nflp-m7g6Ws

I found the "have you raced in the rain before" question funny, Marcos being Tasmanian and having raced in V8 Supercars and all. Things like running on slicks in the wet with 700 odd horsepower is pretty common in V8 Supercars. It really makes things just that bit interesting for the drivers and the audiance, sorts out the bad from the good drivers and limits (to a degree) car/engine/mechanical advantage of teams with bad drivers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0YQ7HEvWgc

[FIRE]

Well done Ambrose. Not a surprise but he still has to do it.

Full results: http://www.nascar.com/races/bg/2009/25/data/lineup.html
Big gaps


Please no spoilers in topic titles.

[Knowlesy]

We don't really need three million Ambrose threads, so have a super thread instead.

[monaroCountry]

All good, easier to navigate

[MJ_N_09]

I heard Ambrose was angry. What happened.

[fieldodreams79]

when asked about what happened, his reply was, "I made one mistake all day and it cost me the race."
then walked off.

better than i could do under the circumstances.

[Knowlesy]

Well he did choke there badly it must be said. Spoiled an otherwise fantastic drive, clearly the class of the field. I mean, I know the Nationwide field isn't awesome at Montreal, but still pretty good going from him.

[fieldodreams79]

there were a lot of "road racers" entered and agree or not, most NW/Cup drivers and teams are pretty good at getting the stockcars road race ready.

BIG CHOKE for Taz, tho. not a good weekend all 'round for the Aussie.

[MJ_N_09]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

when asked about what happened, his reply was, "I made one mistake all day and it cost me the race."
then walked off.

better than i could do under the circumstances.

Sounds like kyle Busch or Clint Bowyer

[1200Datto27]

There's a few F1 champs how have done the same thing over those curbs, and have endedup in the wall on the outside of that corner, so he's in good company there.

[fieldodreams79]

^well, they do call it the champion's wall, right?

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

Sounds like kyle Busch or Clint Bowyer

similar, but with less whining noises.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

We don't really need three million Ambrose threads, so have a super thread instead.

Good idea


Despite his expensive mistake he's the best road course driver in NASCAR.

[dirtymacca]

With a 31st slot start this weekend at New Hampshire...it is good to have a review to date:

Some interesting 2009 statistics on Marcos Ambrose’s earning so far this year in the Sprint series.

• Starts - 26
• Poles - 0
• Wins - 0
• Top 5 finishes - 4
• Top 10 finishes – 7
• Earnings – US$3,212,110

Current series leader Mark Martin's earnings are US$3.938,100, by comparison Marcos is doing very well THANK YOU!

Even though Ambrose is driving for a 1 car team these numbers are interesting.


Msn.foxsports.com crunched the numbers for a mid-level standard two-car team. For big name driving teams, multiply these numbers by one and a half or more:

• Team salaries: $2.5-3.5 million, or an average salary of ~$30,000/year for ~100 employees
• Travel: $1 million per team
• Tires: $1 million per team ($20,000 per race weekend plus testing)
• In-house engine program: $3.5 million+
• Cars: $1-3 million per team

And an insight from a legend:

Richard Petty, who started driving for NASCAR in the late 60’s, told sportingnews.com,
"When you go back to me and Allison and Pearson and all of them, we (were) just making a living. I drove 35 years and didn't take in but $7.5 million dollars. It took me 15 years to win the first million. These guys today start out with $2 or $3 million dollars in their hand before they ever get in the race car. Then they go out and win another $2 or $3 million dollars or whatever.”

[MJ_N_09]

I wonder what all theses racers do with the money.