.....Marcos Ambrose...I'm not racing to win anymore....

[retro]

This must be true cause it's in the paper :-)...go to the bottom of the page........

link here

New challenge as Canadian tries supercars
By Michael Lynch
August 9, 2005

Plenty of ex-formula one drivers and European sports car and tin-top aces have strapped themselves into Australian touring cars to add an international dimension to Australia's endurance-race classics, the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

But not too many Champ Car stars have made the journey Down Under to run in two of V8 supercar's showcase events.

This year, however, Canadian Alex Tagliani will make the trip, joining the Gold Coast-based Ford team WPS Racing's challenge on the two big races.

Tagliani, who has strong ties to Australia, having met his wife Bronte when he raced in the Gold Coast Champ Car Grand Prix in 2001, will be joined as one of the WPS four-man squad by US-based Australian Champ Car driver Marcus Marshall. WPS team regulars David Besnard and expatriate New Zealander Craig Baird will also be part of the team's assault in Melbourne and at Mount Panorama.

Tagliani admits the transition between Champ Car open-wheeler and a closed-in, heavy V8 supercar was difficult after a test session in Queensland.


"In the beginning I was really struggling with the gears, particularly on the downshift. Once I had a couple of sessions out on the track I really started to feel a lot more comfortable. But I'm under no illusions this is a huge learning curve so I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel as much as possible," he said.

Marshall, a rookie in the Champ Car series this season driving the Team Australia entry part-owned by WPS team owner Craig Gore, is best known in Australia for finishing runner-up in the 2003 Carrera Cup championship.

The Queenslander has a commendable strike rate in Australia, having secured back-to-back second placings at Bathurst and at the Indy in the 2000 Australian formula Ford championship, before placing second overall in the 2003 Carrera Cup, but he has driven a V8 and is familiar with the layout at Sandown and Bathurst.

"It's going to be great getting the chance to race in V8 supercars again after brief stints during the past two years," Marshall said.

"This is a lot different deal to the Champ Cars but like every driver in Australia, you know how big Bathurst is and this is what everyone aspires to do … race at Bathurst and to win."

To do that, however, the WPS Racing squad will have to show significant improvement on its performances in this year's V8 title battle, which is being led by two-time champion Marcos Ambrose in the Pirtek Racing Stone Brothers-prepared Falcon.

Ambrose goes into this weekend's Oran Park round of the championship with a handy lead over Holden driver Steven Richards, and is sure to be one of the frontrunners again.

But he has indicated he will temper his racer's desire to win in the knowledge that to secure a third consecutive championship all he now has to do is race competitively at the front and continue to pick up high points scores.

[SRabbit]

Soft.

And completely transparant.

Well done Marcos on setting up your excuse line now that Craig is regularly smacking you all around the park - 'oh but i just wanted points, not the win'

what a crock.

[observer]

Originally Posted by SRabbit

Soft.

And completely transparant.

Well done Marcos on setting up your excuse line now that Craig is regularly smacking you all around the park - 'oh but i just wanted points, not the win'

what a crock.

Well said,
and and just goes to show how lame this points system is.

[peckstar]

so is he now the accumulating enforcer?

[racer69]

Whats wrong with trying to win the championship?

Isn't this what AVESCO has always wanted, the championship to be more important than any of the individual races?

[stmookeyj033]

Originally Posted by retro

This must be true cause it's in the paper

We've heard that one before and half the stuff in the papers is total BS. Besides, how would the reporter know-he's a football (Soccer) writer FFS.

[stmorri]

Unfortunately it is a completely calculated and sensible approach by Ambrose towards winning the championship. He has already lost points at a couple of rounds by racing and coming into contact with other drivers that were desparate for a win to save their championship hopes. He now simply has to stay near the pointy end of the races, stay out of trouble and take advantage of others misfortune.

[Mattracer]

Hmm, what a terrible way to win a championship but that's the way it is. Ambrose has far more to lose than Lowndes and will be mindful of that.

[monaroCountry]

Unfortunately it is a completely calculated and sensible approach by Ambrose towards winning the championship. He has already lost points at a couple of rounds by racing and coming into contact with other drivers that were desparate for a win to save their championship hopes. He now simply has to stay near the pointy end of the races, stay out of trouble and take advantage of others misfortune.

So the first phase of Ambrose's 2005 championship strategy has finished i.e. take out all leading drivers (or drivers that could match him) now all he has to do is circulate .

[stmorri]

Originally Posted by monaroCountry

So the first phase of Ambrose's 2005 championship strategy has finished i.e. take out all leading drivers (or drivers that could match him) now all he has to do is circulate .

Keep fishing monaroCountry......but I won't be the one taking the bait!

[spectator22]

Take note AVESCO: if the defending champion says that from here on he's driving for points, not wins (because he cant afford to take a single risk and 'drop' a handful of points), then YOUR POINTS SYSTEM, DESIGNED TO KEEP THE CHAMPIONSHIP "ALIVE", IS THE BIG DISASTER EVERYONE'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU IT IS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. Motor racing without wins being rewarded isnt motor racing. Its commercialised motor cruising. Please AVESCO have the balls to try something like MotoGP 25, 20, etc etc next year.

[Conrod Kieron]

Excellent plan from Ambrose. Build a nice lead in the first half of the championship and then coast to a sure 3rd championship to rub it in and just to slip more salt into the wound, it was all done in a first generation, three year old Project Blueprint car.
It must really rile the opposition and red fans judging by the comments

[FPV GTHO]

Too much is being read into this IMO. All he could mean is with 3 straight championships on the mind, race wins arent his first concern.

[Micklegend]

Id say if were all in the same position we would want to protect a lead...even Ingall has softened his approach because the biff and barge isnt going to help him win a championship.

Its much easier to chase a lead than to protect one, all those behind will now have the "nothing to lose" attitude.

In years past we have seen skaife run away with the championship, never to be headed and therefore still able to take some risks, I see this as being a great end to the championship, especially if bad luck befalls any of the frontrunners in the last couple of rounds, indy in particular!

[mac]

Originally Posted by spectator22

Take note AVESCO: if the defending champion says that from here on he's driving for points, not wins (because he cant afford to take a single risk and 'drop' a handful of points), then YOUR POINTS SYSTEM, DESIGNED TO KEEP THE CHAMPIONSHIP "ALIVE", IS THE BIG DISASTER EVERYONE'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU IT IS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. Motor racing without wins being rewarded isnt motor racing.

Agreed 100%.

[Chappelli]

I can't believe people having a problem with Ambrose saying he's cutting out the risks in the chase for the championship...

Do we have a problem with the lead driver backing off in the later laps of Bathurst to ensure the car lasts?

Absolutley agree with Spectator22.... Round winners are easily forgotten, champioships go down in history.

[SRabbit]

my problem personally, and this is only my opinion, is that i like to watch motorsport and in particular my favourite drivers, having a redhot go for a win.
To me that is the whole entire point of competition and sport - to win. Now i know there is the argument for championship wins vs race wins by i feel like the problem has been created by a ridiculous points system that does not particularly reward the winner enough.
The fastest driver/car/team should be going for the win and rewarded for it.
6 points between places?? please!!
you can have your crew work 14 hour days, spend maybe a million dollars a year more than the next guy, train 5 days a week on your fitness, specialised diets, prepare mentally - just LIVE to race and drive a race car - and it pays off - race day you go out and you blitz them, win the race - we all know how hard that is in this game to dominate and what it would take to even be 2 or 3 tenths quicker than your opponant - all the sacrifice, all the dedication got you.....6 extra points

big deal

you only got 24 more point than the guy who didnt even finish on the podium and most of the time is about 30 seconds behind you.....so what...
and you end up with this situation where Marcos doesnt have to try to win anymore.
Marcos knows he isnt the quickest out there anymore and for me, he has given up. This time last year where it was tight as well he was all about 'i'll still go for wins, its what has got me this far so i'll keep going' - how many times have the words 'i'm just a racer' come out of his mouth?
I'm not blaming him for one second - please dont get me wrong. He is, as many have ( Steven Richards is a prime example ) just using the points system to his advantage. If Tony thinks people are just going to keep swallowing this crap as 'competition' he is kidding himself.
I want a points system where points are like gold and a win is something to be marvelled - F1 is a good example - when Rubens won his first ever GP he was in tears, singing his national anthem for all he was worth - thats the esteem a race win should be held in - not something given away for the sake of the safety in points. Do you think Alonso can afford to cruise around now? Hell no!! If Kimi keeps WINNING RACES he will lose the championship and thats why F1 has been unbeleivable this year.
As i said just my view, but when a sport is won by not winning - something is fundamentally wrong.

[mayhem]

Agreed 100% SRabbit, well said. The perfect illustration of everything you've just written is happening to Dean Canto in the DV8 Series, he is unlikely to win the title despite winning almost every race this year, at Queensland a couple of weeks ago he won two races, ran fifth in a reverse grid race and clawed back all of two points off Warren Luff. As that annoying little Daryl Somers clone would say, "What the....?"

[Razor]

Spectator22, I agree with you aswell. All the drivers want to see a newer points system that is more clearer. Not a whole piece of muble jumble.

[lookleft]

Originally Posted by spectator22

Take note AVESCO: if the defending champion says that from here on he's driving for points, not wins (because he cant afford to take a single risk and 'drop' a handful of points), then YOUR POINTS SYSTEM, DESIGNED TO KEEP THE CHAMPIONSHIP "ALIVE", IS THE BIG DISASTER EVERYONE'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU IT IS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. Motor racing without wins being rewarded isnt motor racing. Its commercialised motor cruising. Please AVESCO have the balls to try something like MotoGP 25, 20, etc etc next year.

MotoGP System
1 250
11 211
22 210
9 200
2 194
888 169
51 151
211 109
16 106
17 85

Current System
1 1,166
11 1,061
9 1,051
22 1,032
2 954
888 910
16 859
17 843
51 828
18 785

Whats the difference? motoGP woudl actually favor the 1 car.

[TSR]

Originally Posted by spectator22

Take note AVESCO: if the defending champion says that from here on he's driving for points, not wins (because he cant afford to take a single risk and 'drop' a handful of points), then YOUR POINTS SYSTEM, DESIGNED TO KEEP THE CHAMPIONSHIP "ALIVE", IS THE BIG DISASTER EVERYONE'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU IT IS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. Motor racing without wins being rewarded isnt motor racing. Its commercialised motor cruising. Please AVESCO have the balls to try something like MotoGP 25, 20, etc etc next year.

People I agree 100%, but as I have may times before on these pages one Mr Aussie Bernie and his co-horts at AVE$CO and TEGA could not give a flying ***k about the Australian paying public and FANS.And with the power of the home of mortorsport Ch serious and A.Fiction pumping out there propogranda, we again just have to take it on the chin.

So what can we do-- that is the million dollar questioned.

[woodbine]

Originally Posted by lookleft

Whats the difference? motoGP woudl actually favor the 1 car.

The difference is that with the V8 points, if Marcos comes 3rd in every race then Steve Richards needs to win every race to be champion. With the MotoGP points then Marcos would lose by over 50 points, so it encourages him to RACE.

In the HPDC its even worse, Dean Canto has won 7 out of 11 races and the scores are:

Macrow 728
Luff 684
D'Alberto 634
Canto 628

With MotoGP points it would be
Canto 202
Macrow 173
Luff 170
D'Alberto 116

Which one more acurately depicts the way the season has gone?

[spectator22]

What can we do TSR? All we can do is email team owners, drivers and AVESCO, reminding them how bad it is, how we're turning off, and how the defending champion isn't racing any more! And suggest something like 25, 20, 17, 15, 13, 11, 10, 9, etc or whatever that actually rewards racing drivers who want to RACE and WIN. Quite simple really, but then I dont know how the politics work at AVESCO. But public opinion has to count for something. They are always saying that they have the interests of the race fans at heart. We will see. Am I being naive?

[bahodie]

Are we turning off though?

I think you'll find most punters don't find the points system as sexy as the pretty cars and loud 'vroom vroom' noises...Aussie Bernie knows people will keep on turning up to events, even if they spend all day complaining about the points system.

[mayhem]

Originally Posted by bahodie

I think you'll find most punters don't find the points system as sexy as the pretty cars and loud 'vroom vroom' noises...Aussie Bernie knows people will keep on turning up to events, even if they spend all day complaining about the points system.

Dunno if the ARDC would agree with that.