Ambrose presented Sir Jack Brabham award

Former two-time V8 Supercar champion and now NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose was presented with the Sir Jack Brabham Award in a special ceremony at the Homebush Olympic precinct by CAMS, the Australian Confederation of Motor Sport governing body.

Press conference: Australian NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose. Photo by Chris Von Wieldt.

The award was in recognition of Ambrose's services to Australian motorsport and his demonstrated talent and determination, and the significant level of achievement and success at the international level.

Past winners have included Will Power who is making a name for himself in the IndyCar Series and current Formula One driver Mark Webber is to be presented with the same award at the Australian Formula One in Melbourne next year.

Sir Jack Brabham was the first driver in history to be knighted for services to motor sport. He is a triple world champion and the only Formula One driver to have won a world title in a car of his own construction, the BT19, which he drove to victory in 1966. Brabham contested 126 Grand Prix races from 1955 to 1970 achieving 14 wins, 10 seconds and 7 third placings. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship three times and the Formula One World Constructors Championship twice.

Marcos is the first Australian to race full time in NASCAR, the pinnacle of motorsport in the United States. Since moving into the top category Ambrose has scored four top five finishes and seven top 10 finishes in 2009. He has won the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen in New York for the past two years.

Ambrose was back in Australia helping to promote V8 Supercars which recently signed a contract with the SPEED channel which will show all rounds of the championship in 2010. The "Devil" as he is affectionally known to Aussie race fans is spending some quality time in Tasmania with his family before returning to the United States in the middle of January, 2010.

Asked whether he is considering a return to Australia, Ambrose hinted at a five year plan, however that was dependant on what the future held for him and his family. V8 Supercar Chairman Mr Tony Cochrane suggested tongue in cheek, "He might return as a team boss for Toyota", the motoring giant that has successfully moved into NASCAR over the past couple of years and has been talked about as a likely manufacturer to join V8 Supercars.