MARCOS Ambrose remained loyal to Stone Brothers Racing throughout his first stint in V8 Supercars, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t approached by other teams.
Speaking on the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Repco, Ambrose recalled the time he was approached by Triple Eight.
Ambrose was already familiar with Triple Eight’s operation; the Roland Dane-led squad had rose to become one of the top British Touring Car Championship teams while Ambrose was racing in British Formula Ford and Formula 3.
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Their paths crossed again several years later in Australia when Triple Eight completed its purchase of Briggs Motorsport on the eve of the 2003 Sandown 500.
On this occasion, Ambrose on the way towards winning his first of two V8 Supercars Championships with SBR.
Triple Eight had its sights on building a championship-winning team and eventually recruited Craig Lowndes as its marquee pilot for 2005.
But Lowndes wasn’t the only Ford hero that Triple Eight made a play for.
“(Triple Eight) were very new and they were down the order, mid-pack at best,” Ambrose told the V8 Sleuth Podcast.
“I knew of Roland Dane from my time in the UK. I knew he was a serious player.
“I met them, we talked about it and we exchanged offers, but I declined. We couldn’t meet terms.”
Instead, Ambrose stayed with the Stone Brothers squad through to the end of 2005, when he departed V8 Supercars to pursue a NASCAR career in the United States.
