MARCOS Ambrose has been hailed as brave and the "ultimate team player" by the man who has taken his seat in the DJR Team Penske #17 Ford Falcon FX G.
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Speaking to The Examiner yesterday, Scott Pye was full of praise for the Launceston driver, who shocked the V8 Supercar world last Tuesday by announcing his decision to step away from the category.
The two-time V8 Supercars champion cited a lack of experience in the car as the reason behind stepping down.
"Marcos through this has been the ultimate team man, because he's put himself on the line to try to help the team," the 25-year-old Pye said ahead of the Tasmania SuperSprint.
"I think it is a really brave decision from him, and hopefully it turns out to be the right one and now I can end up helping the team.
"Obviously it was a big shock when it happened, but this is an opportunity that I've got to make the most of, and one that I'm excited about as well."
But while Ambrose, who competed in just three events after returning from his NASCAR stint in the US, won't be in the driving seat for Team DJR, he will still be making his presence felt in the garage over the weekend.
"The guy has been in the sport forever, and there is so much that I can learn from him, I'd be stupid not to go to him (for advice).
"I've been lucky enough with the races this year being in the truck listening to his feedback and him talking to the engineers, so to have him in my corner over the weekend, I am looking forward to being able to ask him a lot of questions.
"From this weekend I'm the main driver, and the idea is to get myself as comfortable as possible, and I've been in that race driver's state of mind since the announcement.
"Physically I never stopped training, because I was looking to do some other racing, maybe in America or Europe during the year."
Pye drove full-time for the team last year before DJR merged with Penske Racing, but lost his seat when it downsized to a one-car outfit.
His aim is to "get a handle" on the new balance of the car this weekend, and to score some points for the team.
"I've got to get use to that balance, as we've got the car inside pretty much the same as we had it last year, and now it is just a matter of how that balance is going to shift things now."
Finishing every race, and getting the maximum amount of track time will also put him in good stead for future events.
Pye has good memories of Symmons Plains, with two top 10 finishes at the track last year.
"This place is a great little circuit, as it is so short everything happens in pretty quick time and the racing is quite intense.
"These short circuits are really quite exciting to race on."
The V8 Supercars action will kick off tomorrow at Symmons Plains with two practice sessions.
Saturday will see two 25-lap races and Sunday will feature an 84-lap race.