He's surprised but Team Penske president Tim Cindric doesn't believe Marcos Ambrose is running away from the outfit's V8 Supercars operation.
Ambrose shocked Australian motosport when he announced on Tuesday he would relinquish his driver's seat to Scott Pye for an undefined period just two events into his V8s comeback.
Cindric said the 38-year-old's call had caught the team by surprise but he praised Ambrose's honesty and says there's no question of the two-time V8s champion walking away from the team.
"He's taken a lot of pride in bringing Roger and the Penske organisation to Australia and linking it with the series and Dick Johnson," Cindric told motorsports website Speedcafe.com.
"He feels like if he's at all the weak link he wants to make sure that it (the team) has a chance to grow as quick as it can.
"If that means stepping aside short-term for it to do that, he's willing to do that ... he's not running away from it.
"The fact that he's even going to Tasmania (Symmons Plains later this month) and taking on all his commitments, even though he's outside the car, not everybody would do that."
Cindric said the American outfit were probably realising they had underestimated the challenge of establishing themselves in the V8 championship.
Despite that, he said the chances of adding a second car to their team for selected events to aid Ambrose's comeback was unlikely.
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