Is Ambrose Loss A Blow Or V8 Coup?

The Age

Tuesday March 8, 2005

By MICHAEL LYNCH

WHEN Australian soccer players leave their home competition to play in Europe, it's regarded as a setback for the local league. The same goes for basketball, and even cricket, where Cricket Australia officials discourage Test players from playing for English counties to augment their income during the off-season.

So is the highest-profile local motor sport category similarly "lessened" when its champion decides to quit to pursue an overseas career? Is Marcos Ambrose's defection from V8 supercars at the end of this season a blow to the category? Or does the fact he is being taken seriously as a potential driver by the people who run the American NASCAR series mean the V8 championship's credibility is enhanced, along with and Australian motor sport's status?

The most successful driver still in the V8 championship, Holden Racing Team boss Mark Skaife, believes Ambrose's ambitions speak volumes about the credibility of V8s and how well regarded the domestic championship is in the world's toughest markets.

"I would like to see him stay but if he wants a change and a challenge, I think that's fantastic. Any of the top guys in this series can win races anywhere in the world if they have a good car underneath them," Skaife said.

Ambrose's teammate, Russell Ingall, said there could only be upside for the whole series - and perhaps a fresh range of career opportunities for V8 drivers in a new marketplace - if he succeeded.

"There's no doubt this category has jumped up in class and it shows our guys are among the best in the world," he said.

Ambrose says he is motivated by the need to find a new challenge. At 28, he is young enough to mount a serious assault overseas and then return to race in Australia should he still want to.

"Without V8 supercars, I wouldn't have got this chance, that's how highly this series is thought of around the world," he said. "It is recognised as the premier touring car (series) in the world and its reputation has spread across the globe."