MARCOS Ambrose will base his second assault on the V8 Supercar series in Launceston.
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The two-time series champion said yesterday he will live in the city when he returns from his decade-long NASCAR adventure in the US.
‘‘I’m a proud Tasmanian, I grew up there and always considered my home as Tasmania and in particular Launceston,’’ Ambrose told The Examiner.
‘‘My immediate family is there, I met my wife there on the Myer corner when we were about 15-16 so it’s my natural home.
‘‘Our kids have their cousins there and we still have a lot of ties to Launceston and Tasmania in general so we’re really excited about that.
‘‘We haven’t lived in Tasmania, my wife and I, since 1997 so this will be a real homecoming for us and we’re looking forward to having our feet firmly planted on the ground in Tasmania.’’
The 38-year-old will return to Australia in November and base his family — wife Sonja and daughters Tabitha, 8, and American-born Adelaide, 6 — in the city of his birth.
‘‘It was a personal choice to get my family back to Tasmania where our family is, where we grew up and I think it is right that the kids will get to hang out with their cousins.’’
However, Ambrose expects to spend much of his time in south-east Queensland where he owns a property and will be close to his new team, Dick Johnson Racing.
Fielding questions about resuming rivalries with Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright and Russell Ingall and taking on reigning benchmark driver Jamie Whincup, Ambrose said he had kept abreast of the V8 Supercar championship and had no misconceptions about the size of the task ahead.
He also described Bathurst, where he had five ‘‘average’’ races, as unfinished business.
The former Scotch Oakburn student took part in a trans-Pacific media conference yesterday with Aussie racing great Johnson and Roger Penske, who will bring his hugely successful US racing record to the Australian market next year.
Ambrose said he was thrilled to be spearheading a venture he said was a ‘‘no-brainer’’ for him and a great personal challenge.