When
a sport is continually dominated by a team or individual, one of two things
happens to that sport, either the success is celebrated with champion status,
or the sport becomes mundane and boring due to a lack of competition and
excitement. You will either love or hate the success being achieved by those
who continue to win. Year after year, season after season, match after match,
if someone is continually winning, fans can begin to lose interest.
Teams
like Manchester United, individuals like Lance Armstrong; both long-term winners.
Both with brash airs of arrogance from their continual success that is
underpinned by self-confidence, but reeks of a smug “I’m the best” attitude. In
an individual sport when a winner has this attitude, it provides competitors
with a fierce desire to chase them down. Making it that much more satisfying to
bring down, put simply, a wanker. Sometimes though, it takes a similar approach
to bring them down.
Nine years ago, Marcus Ambrose
left the V8 supercars with this attitude. After winning two V8 Supercars
titles, he was the one you either loved or loathed. Today he returns to the
series that made him, after an eight-year stint in NASCAR. Forget about his
lack of time in a supercar over that time, the most important thing Ambrose
brings back to the Australian series is his will-to-win, or more importantly
his hate-to-lose. He will have a burning desire to become number one again, and
the man he has to bring down, Jamie Whincup, won’t like it one iota.
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| If anyone can take down Jamie Whincup, it's Marcus Ambrose. Finally, he's back. |
Whincup has won
six of the last seven series championships. He is the current ‘champion’ of the
sport. But no one reeks of the smug attitude more than Whincup. To the fans, in
front of the camera, he is humble and respectful, but the sleek front has an
underbelly of genuine arrogance.
In a phase
where the sport is struggling to retain its identity with the announcement that
long-time manufacturer Ford will stop competing, Ambrose' return couldn’t come
at a better time. You get the feeling the Ambrose and Whincup rivalry is going
to build into a season full of fireworks. The one thing about the V8’s is they
know how to use the media to create drama in the sport. The moments off the
racetrack often mean as much as the moments on it. Thrown helmets after a
crash, drivers bailing each other up in the pits, and the war of words before
each race add for a spicy battle on the tarmac.
Throw in
veteran Craig Lowndes and a handful of rookies breathing down current champ
Whincup’s neck, it’s beginning to look like the perfect mix for a competitive
season needed to see through the upcoming loss of Ford.
The thing about
motorsport that can often dull its interest is one constant winner, who is
usually the bloke driving the car which has the most money spent on it. Formula
One, NASCAR, Indy; they all have this problem. In the last couple of years the
V8’s have brought in Nissan and Volvo to add to the long and historic battle
between manufacturers Ford and Holden. They’ve also made strict changes to the
way the cars are built, with the ‘Car of the Future’ concept trying to reduce
costs and allow for an even playing field.
Former NRL, and
now Football Australia CEO, David Gallop, is a firm believer that evenness
across a competition is vital for a sport to be successful. The reproduction of
a new winner every year was the perfect scenario for Gallop. Allowing teams to
be successful in cycles with the operation of a salary cap, to ensure each team
has a genuine opportunity to win their competition every year. Much like a
salary cap, the V8 administrators’ implemented their ‘Car of the Future’ idea
to have a more even spread of winners.
For the first
time ever, the V8 Supercars will have limited free-to-air coverage, with the
sport opting to take a broadcast deal with pay TV giant Fox Sports. Bringing in
the dollars is crucial for the big business of sport, but losing touch with
your loyal group of fans is a massive risk. The V8’s have taken a punt and risk
losing the support of their working and middle-class supporters without
free-to-air coverage. They will be relying on the return of a former champion
and their Car of the Future to provide juicy enough entertainment for fans to
cough up the cash for pay TV.
All that starts
today at the season opening Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, where for the first time
the Ambrose comeback hits the racetrack. If history is anything to go by, we
might just see the start of a rivalry not seen in years. Ambrose has won the
Clipsal two times. Whincup has won it four.
Bring. It. On.