Double champion Marcos Ambrose has been welcomed into the Supercars Hall of Fame at the Gala Awards in Adelaide.
Ambrose was recognised for his contributions to the sport as he led the rise of Ford during the 2000s from cellar dwellers to a dominant force.
Ambrose’s father Ross raced and co-founded noted open-wheel chassis manufacturer Van Diemen during the 1970s.
Hailing from Tasmania, Ambrose’s Formula Ford career took him to England where lack of budget ultimately stopped him from progressing in Europe.
Joining Stone Brothers Racing for the 2001 season, Ambrose was on the pace immediately in the unfavored Ford AU Falcon to score three pole positions during his rookie season including being the first debutant to take pole position at the Bathurst 1000.
Although he didn’t win during his maiden Supercars season, Ambrose had put everyone on notice due to his speed and finally scored his maiden victory at Round 2 of the 2002 season at Phillip Island.
Following on from his third position in the standings in 2002, Ambrose kept the upwards trajectory by winning the title the next year.
The introduction of the BA Falcon and a renewed push by Ford to end Holden’s dominance led to a dream season for Ambrose in 2003 where he scored nine wins to secure the Blue Oval’s first title in six years.
An even more dominant season came in 2004 where Ambrose scored 12 wins on the way to back-to-back titles.
It was a Stone Brothers Racing hat-trick of Supercars titles in 2005, but this time Ambrose’s teammate Russell Ingall broke the bridesmaid tag.
Ambrose’s Supercars stats read 28 wins, 66 podiums and 18 pole positions before heading off to America to chase a career in NASCAR.
Setting the pathway for future Supercars drivers including Shane van Gisbergen, Will Brown and Cam Waters to chase the American dream.
Moving through NASCAR’s development pathway, Ambrose won two races at the top level in the Cup Series during six seasons.
Penske announced its involvement in Supercars in 2014 through an alignment with Dick Johnson Racing and Ambrose was to be the driver.
Competing at the final Supercars round in Homebush at the end of the 2014 season ahead of a planned assault on the title the following year, but Ambrose stepped away realising he wasn’t the right driver to guide the team through a transformative time.
Of recent time, Ambrose recently revealed his battle with Stage IV colorectal cancer leading to a liver transplant, which was just the third to procedure for this cancer level to occur in Australia.
Repco congratulates Marcos on this prestigious honour.