The Revolution Has Started: How Marcos Ambrose Is Reshaping Australian Club Racing

In the first six weeks of Marcos Ambrose's tenure as AASA National Competition and Commercial Director, two major reforms landed. Time-certain racing was abolished. Rolling starts were mandated. The 2026 calendar was expanded. And the paddock — cautiously, then enthusiastically — started paying attention.

It's the pace that surprises people. Reform in Australian motorsport typically moves slowly, argued over in technical meetings and committee reports until whatever urgency existed has long dissipated. Ambrose isn't interested in that process.

He came in with a clear diagnosis: too much friction, not enough racing. Competitors were spending money to stand on a grid and then race for an indeterminate amount of time before the session ended under a clock rather than a flag. The experience wasn't good enough. The product wasn't good enough. He said so plainly and then changed it.

But regulation reform is the easy part. The harder work is growing grids, attracting sponsors, and building the kind of media presence that makes AASA events unmissable for fans as well as participants. That's where the commercial half of Ambrose's title comes in.

For the ADC specifically, the expanded 2026 calendar — six rounds, five confirmed circuits, live television on Super Series rounds — is the most tangible evidence of what AASA support can deliver. Hyper Racer director Dean Crooke put it simply: "We picked key rounds with the Super Series at The Bend opener and under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park which is fantastic."

The revolution, as Ambrose might put it, is only just getting started.