Australia’s NASCAR star Marcos Ambrose has been thwarted in his attempt for a shock return to the V8 Supercar series for the season-ending race in Sydney.
Ambrose, who twice won the V8 championship before heading overseas to race in the world’s premier stock car series, had been seeking a one-off drive at next month’s Telstra 500 at Homebush.
A combination of series rules and the reluctance of any current driver to step aside and give Ambrose their car for the weekend scuttled the plan.
V8 bosses were keen for Ambrose to race in Sydney.
But there is no provision under series rules to allow a guest driver a one-off seat at a championship round, with a limited amount of racing licences in play.
Other teams were then approached to see if a driver would step aside to allow Ambrose to take part, with all refusing the option.
“I got turned down – I had sponsors in play and everything ready to go,” Ambrose said.
“I thought it would be very cool to go back and see old friends and have a race or two and they wouldn’t let me in.”
Ambrose also attempted to gain access to a licence V8 bosses had taken back earlier this year, but that is not allowed under championship regulations.
V8 boss Tony Cochrane admitted he was disappointed Ambrose couldn’t race in Sydney, considering what a big drawcard his appearance would have been.
“That licence which was taken back has ceased to exist, so it just can’t be used any more,” Cochrane told AAP.
“We’re obviously disappointed that Marcos won’t be able to drive but I can understand why (no one is prepared to give up their car).
“These guys drive all year and this is their grand finale, so they obviously want to take part.”
Ambrose is set to finish in the top 20 in his first full season in the top-tier NASCAR series.
He qualified third for the final NASCAR race of the year in Miami this weekend.
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