In recognition of Marcos Ambrose’s return to the Repco Supercars Championship broadcast team at Symmons Plains this weekend, The Garage focuses on his title winning season of 2003.
Entering the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship season, Ford had not won a title since Glenn Seton’s triumph in 1997.
Ford’s AU model Falcon had not experienced a great deal of success, with the VT Commodore taking all before it in terms of not only titles, but the annual pilgrimage to the Mountain as well.
Spurred on by a renewed commitment to performance and motorsport through new Ford Australia boss Geoff Polites, plus the launch of the BA Falcon, Holden was up against much stiffer competition in 2003.
At this time, Ambrose was embarking on his third season in V8 Supercars after being picked up by the Stone Brothers in 2001. This followed a successful tilt at Europe, which run short of funs for the Tasmanian and forced his return.
Ambrose shook the establishment at his first meeting in a V8 Supercar as support to the Australian Grand Prix where he scored pole position.
Finishing eighth in his first title campaign, then third in his second set-up the perfect scenario for Ford and Ambrose in 2003.
In another major coup for the Blue Oval after Craig Lowndes defected in 2001, was acquiring the services of long-time Castrol Perkins Racing driver Russell Ingall as he joined Ambrose at Stone Brothers Racing.
Just as much hype surrounded the BA Falcon rival, the new generation of the Commodore in the form of VY.
It was a dream start for the BA as Ambrose gave it a first-up win in Adelaide, although a retirement dampened the result on Sunday.
A run of strong results beginning at Eastern Creek (Sydney Motorsport Park) continued through to Winton, Barbagallo, Hidden Valley, Queensland Raceway and Oran Park set-up a successful championship tilt.
It was a long-awaited run of success for Ford fans after being starved of any for a prolonged period of time and for Ambrose it was a realisation of something he had been working up to since returning from Europe.
It was the first season of what was prolonged success for Ford, Stone Brothers Racing and Ambrose as he took the 2004 title, came second in 2005 and left for NASCAR in 2006 where he continued his success, particularly at Watkins Glen.