2014 Silly Season (Merged x2)

[Umai Naa]

He needs to spend more on his team period.

It's easy to see why he likes to blood in the young drivers; they cost less.

Sure, he can wear a few bent panels, but if they get up score some results, great!

[RedZedMikey]

Originally Posted by glenn_a

The 29-year-old has won three championships, 53 race wins and three Bathurst 1000 victories in his six years with the team. And despite rumours linking him with a move overseas, he says he’s committed to V8 Supercars having put pen to paper on a new three-year deal with Triple Eight starting from 2013.

http://www.v8x.com.au/index.php/9-ne...er-three-years

Originally Posted by one five five

?? He won't even be 40

If you believe V8X magazine, Lowndes has discovered the fountain of youth ... they have him at 29 years old! Lets see ... that would make him 11 years old when he made that great move around JB in '94

I reckon it gets down to the individual. I think Craig has shown this year that he still "has it", and is worth another contract. The younger Courtney though, might be up against it for a renewal in V8SC.

[Micklegend]

If you look at Courtney since he joined the circus, he came into Stones when they were hot but to follow in the footsteps of Ambrose, had to get used to the cars. Ingall had still just won the championship so one would guess that the setup was more for Ambrose and Ingall, not Courtney.

Move to DJR and he finds his feet, eventually they find the sweetspot with the 888 car and he lifts to win the championship, even if some say it was one that Whincup lost, a win is a win (as Rick Kelly).

Move to HRT and he has to again work his way into a new car, big hopes of carrying the #1 and drive a car not 100% suited to him. And anyone here knows (or reads) that the HRT machines are only set up for the number one gun (Skaife, Tander). Even Ingall realised this when he wanted the team to set his car up for him of late, and see how his form improved.

Overall Courtney has had higher expectations put upon him than any other driver in the championship over the last 5 or so years.

And if FPR pick Percat over Mostert they are insane....Chaz has true talent and while he may not be the poster boy the bigger teams want, I feel he has developed well and should be rewarded with the 4th FPR seat.

[peckstar]

MotoGP star Casey Stoner in talks with V8 Supercars

to run a development series car in 2013 and then who knows in 2014

[kittle]

Is it to early for a 2014 Silly Season.

Could we see Marcos Ambrose back in a V8 Supercar

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sp...-1226521266212

I would look forward to that

[Sandgroper]

Originally Posted by kittle

Is it to early for a 2014 Silly Season.

Could we see Marcos Ambrose back in a V8 Supercar

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sp...-1226521266212

I would look forward to that

I was waiting to see how long it took for someone to catch onto this..Lol Not long. Maybe wishful thinking UNLESS he wants to return home to Sunny Tasmania

[Mr Revhead]

Would be cool to see him come back and Beat Whincup

[kittle]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

Would be cool to see him come back and Beat Whincup

It would have been good to see him back in an SBR Pirtek backed Ford

[Mr Revhead]

Originally Posted by kittle

It would have been good to see him back in an SBR Pirtek backed Ford

Same thing

[mmciau]

Ambrose won't come back here

Where else can you be a Rank 10-20 driver and earn $4.8M?

Mike

18--Marcos Ambrose950-1450362138 4,767,870

[Mixer]

Not to mention what if he did a Schumacher and stunk?

[Chris - Melb]

Originally Posted by mmciau

Ambrose won't come back here

Where else can you be a Rank 10-20 driver and earn $4.8M?

Mike

I would have thought the earnings would firstly go to the team owner, not the driver, but I'm sure he's making much more money in NASCAR than he would in V8 Supercar.

However, he rates at the bottom of the list of drivers who compete in all the races; not a good look. He is kidding himself if he thinks he's going to win an oval race other than by fortunate strategy and even then he hasn't come even close so far. If he runs well at the beginning of the race you just have to wait long enough for him to be swamped by the end of the race.

Racing in V8 Supercar in 2014 would give him a chance to win more than one or two races a year, live near family and earn some pocket money. Although he would have to cope with crying himself to sleep at night knowing that he is only going to earn a mere $1 million a year....

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

Racing in V8 Supercar in 2014 would give him a chance to win more than one or two races a year, live near family and earn some pocket money. Although he would have to cope with crying himself to sleep at night knowing that he is only going to earn a mere $1 million a year....

I guess there's every chance he could come back for reasons of family/kids, and he could definitely earn a living in V8s, but I think $1m a year is a massive stretch, especially in the current financial climate.

Put it this way, FPR are supposedly only getting $600k per car for title sponsorship, now the REC income is substantial, but where are they going to find $1m to pay Marcos?

I think its a fairy tale really.

[Chris - Melb]

Originally Posted by Mixer

I guess there's every chance he could come back for reasons of family/kids, and he could definitely earn a living in V8s, but I think $1m a year is a massive stretch, especially in the current financial climate.

Put it this way, FPR are supposedly only getting $600k per car for title sponsorship, now the REC income is substantial, but where are they going to find $1m to pay Marcos?

I think its a fairy tale really.

I rounded the figure to the nearest million dollars. I agree it could be a stretch in this environment, although James Courtney allegedly got more than $1 million only a couple of years ago.

It would have to be several hundreds of thousands of dollars though.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

It would have to be several hundreds of thousands of dollars though.

I would think $300k + endorsements would be about the money in today's climate.

Whatever you say about Marcos he is no Lowndes (from a fan/marketing standpoint), and he wasn't even in his day.

I am sure SBR would love to have him back - could be bring a sponsor out of the woodwork?

Stanley is a great brand but I don't know they are big enough for a car, but they do have history in the sport with Kmart Racing.

With lots of sponsors pulling out and perhaps questions over the TV package its not a good time to try to bring back a star with high expectations.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

I rounded the figure to the nearest million dollars. I agree it could be a stretch in this environment, although James Courtney allegedly got more than $1 million only a couple of years ago.

It would have to be several hundreds of thousands of dollars though.

Lowndes, Whincup, Tander & Courtney are all on more than $1m per year.

Originally Posted by Mixer

I would think $300k + endorsements would be about the money in today's climate.

Whatever you say about Marcos he is no Lowndes (from a fan/marketing standpoint), and he wasn't even in his day.

I am sure SBR would love to have him back - could be bring a sponsor out of the woodwork?

Stanley is a great brand but I don't know they are big enough for a car, but they do have history in the sport with Kmart Racing.

With lots of sponsors pulling out and perhaps questions over the TV package its not a good time to try to bring back a star with high expectations.

Stanley is currently part of the Supercheap Auto stable of supplier-sponsors.

[Chris - Melb]

Originally Posted by Mixer

I would think $300k + endorsements would be about the money in today's climate.

Whatever you say about Marcos he is no Lowndes (from a fan/marketing standpoint), and he wasn't even in his day.


With lots of sponsors pulling out and perhaps questions over the TV package its not a good time to try to bring back a star with high expectations.

I think that figure seems extremely pessimistic.

No, he was no Lowndes, he was a Whincup in V8 Supercar, if not more. Marcos was/is every bit as good as him.

I would have thought bringing a star back into V8 Supercar now would be ideal for investors, but call me old-fashioned. I think he is far more marketable than any other alternatives.

In particular he would be ideal for gaining a foothold in the North American market.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

No, he was no Lowndes, he was a Whincup if not more. Marcos was/is every bit as good as him.

I'm speaking of marketability not driving talent.

[F J Nedos]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

He is kidding himself if he thinks he's going to win an oval race other than by fortunate strategy and even then he hasn't come even close so far. If he runs well at the beginning of the race you just have to wait long enough for him to be swamped by the end of the race.

It is an observation of mine that only Americans could making going around in circles complex...

[Chris - Melb]

Originally Posted by F J Nedos

It is an observation of mine that only Americans could making going around in circles complex...

It certainly seems to be a black art.

[Downoz]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

However, he rates at the bottom of the list of drivers who compete in all the races; not a good look.

Racing in V8 Supercar in 2014 would give him a chance to win more than one or two races a year, live near family and earn some pocket money. Although he would have to cope with crying himself to sleep at night knowing that he is only going to earn a mere $1 million a year....

Dont know where you got your figures from, he is not at the bottom of drivers who contested all 36 races this year. There are a number behind him. If you go to the owners points for the cars it will show where that particular car finished as far as owners points. Some cars had drivers sharing the car during the year. Car 9 was 19 out of the 40 cars that did all 36 races.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

I would have thought the earnings would firstly go to the team owner, not the driver, but I'm sure he's making much more money in NASCAR than he would in V8 Supercar.

However, he rates at the bottom of the list of drivers who compete in all the races; not a good look. He is kidding himself if he thinks he's going to win an oval race other than by fortunate strategy and even then he hasn't come even close so far. If he runs well at the beginning of the race you just have to wait long enough for him to be swamped by the end of the race.

Racing in V8 Supercar in 2014 would give him a chance to win more than one or two races a year, live near family and earn some pocket money. Although he would have to cope with crying himself to sleep at night knowing that he is only going to earn a mere $1 million a year....

Drivers typically get around 40% of the prize money. Plus they'll get a salary, endorsements and a cut of merchandising. I wouldn't be surprised if he was pulling in $8-$10 million a year total.

[Chris - Melb]

Originally Posted by Downoz

Dont know where you got your figures from, he is not at the bottom of drivers who contested all 36 races this year. There are a number behind him. If you go to the owners points for the cars it will show where that particular car finished as far as owners points. Some cars had drivers sharing the car during the year. Car 9 was 19 out of the 40 cars that did all 36 races.

I'm not sure that finishing ahead of part-time drivers is anything to crow about; do you?

In the four years he's been full-time in the Cup Series he has finished 18, 26, 19 and 18 in the standings. If you took out the two non-oval races he would be even lower.

He is either not an oval driver, doesn't have the right engineers or the right team/s. I suspect the former when you consider how well Kurt Busch went earlier this year in a low buck team with old cars.

I would have thought racing V8 Supercars in 2014 would be less soul destroying, albeit bank balance destroying.

[Mr Revhead]

Actually they have made some crew changes on his car and he has gained late season from that

[Downoz]

[QUOTE=Chris - Melb;3170006]I'm not sure that finishing ahead of part-time drivers is anything to crow about; do you?

In the four years he's been full-time in the Cup Series he has finished 18, 26, 19 and 18 in the standings. If you took out the two non-oval races he would be even lower.



You said that he finished last of the full time drivers. That is incorrect, as there were 9 or ten behind him of drivers that did the whole series. I really dont care one way or another, just that it is good to see an Aussie in the series. I can understand what Ambrose first said, the first time he went to Bristol to a night race he was hooked. You may have been, but if not, if you ever get the chance go to see the night race at Bristol put it on your bucket list.