25 best Supercars drivers since 2000: #7 Marcos Ambrose
As 2025 gets underway, Supercars.com is ranking the top 25 drivers of the last 25 years, continuing with Marcos Ambrose, who comes in as our #7.
In five seasons, Marcos Ambrose won two drivers’ championships and 28 race, packing in a series of achievements many could only dream of in a 10-year plus career.
Ambrose’s impact on Supercars cannot be understated, and he was on the money from the start, claiming Bathurst pole as a rookie in 2001. Race wins followed in 2002, before Stone Brothers Racing emerged as a powerhouse with the BA Falcon.
Ambrose powered to consecutive titles in 2003 and 2004, ending a five-year stranglehold by Holden Racing Team drivers. For Ford, it was an emphatic response to a fruitless period with the AU Falcon, and it came in the form of a young Tasmanian.
While his 2003 title was assured, Ambrose’s 2004 performance was even better, the then 28-year-old winning 11 races and becoming Ford’s first back-to-back champion since Dick Johnson in the late 1980s.
Bathurst podiums, let along wins, eluded Ambrose. He made a short-lived comeback in 2015 after an impressive decade-long run in NASCAR, but a crash for Scott Pye ultimately ended Ambrose’s Great Race dream.
Marcos Ambrose's key stats since 2000
Years active: 2001-present
Rounds: 65
Races: 147
Best championship position: 1st (2003, 2004)
Best finish: 1st (28 wins)
Top three finishes: 65
Best start: 1st (18 pole positions)
Best Bathurst result: 4th (2004)
The highlight
With two titles and 28 wins, there’s plenty to choose from in a sparkling career. The very best drivers win in Adelaide, and Ambrose did just that.
A Saturday winner in 2003, Ambrose swept the 2004 and 2005 rounds to emerge as the event’s king in its early years in Supercars.
On all three occasions, it helped Ambrose kick off title-contending campaigns; he went all the way in 2003 and 2004, while he led much of 2005 before the crown ended up on the other side of the garage.
Why we picked him
Two championships in five full-time seasons is a heck of a strike rate, and they came as HRT looked set to continue on its merry way. Ambrose was quick from the get-go, and in a matter of years, became Supercars’ poster boy.
Winning one championship is hard enough, but going back-to-back is some achievement. This century, only Mark Skaife, Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen have matched Ambrose’s feat.
Given the competition of the era, Ambrose had plenty of big names to stave off, and he did it in style. On average, Ambrose won once in every 5.25 starts; of drivers with 20 or more wins, only Jamie Whincup (4.47) and Scott McLaughlin (4.52) got to victory lane more often, with Mark Skaife (5.32) just behind.
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.
