A five-strong crew of Team Penske IndyCar mechanics will be on hand at Lakeside for Marcos Ambrose’s first V8 Supercars drive in nine years.

The IndyCar mechanics have been at Dick Johnson Racing’s headquarters this week completing the preparation of Ambrose’s brand-new Ford Falcon V8 Supercar.

As Friday’s Lakeside hit-out is classified as a ‘ride day’, the imports will largely play the role of observers before Ambrose’s first full-fledged test at Queensland Raceway on Sunday.

The Americans have been flown to Australia to provide the backbone of Ambrose’s NRMA Sydney 500 pit crew while the IndyCar Series enjoys its long off-season.

DJR will field a full crew and extra pit boom for Ambrose in Sydney, rather than sharing with single-car squad Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, but is yet to confirm a race engineer for the entry.

Ambrose flew into Brisbane on Wednesday morning and has spent the last two days at DJR, completing a seat fitting while familiarising himself with the car and team.

The 2003 and 2004 V8 Supercars Champion had already kicked off his acclimatisation process while in the US; undertaking a preliminary fitting in a V8 Supercars-spec seat, as well as studying race footage and data.

Ambrose was formally introduced to the 25-strong DJR crew and five Penske guests by the team’s managing director, Ryan Story, at a special staff meeting on Wednesday morning.

“Marcos came in, addressed the staff and immediately relayed that he’s serious about coming back and giving it a hell of a crack,” Story told Speedcafe.com.

“He’s not making any promises, other than that he’ll give it his absolute all in Sydney and beyond.

“It’s just what the guys needed to hear because there’s been a lot of late nights getting this car prepared.

“They (the IndyCar mechanics) have already been a big help this week,” added Story.

“They’re experienced guys that we’ve been able to throw in the deep end straight away.

“It’s a pretty unique program, running three track days over the course of a week between race meetings and a lot of hard work is going into it.”

Ambrose will undertake a limited track program at Lakeside; scheduled to complete just 30 rides for media and sponsors.

Under the strict ride day rules, each run can see the car complete just a single out and in lap, crossing the control line no more than once.

With data gathering and set-up changes also banned, the team says its focus is to get Ambrose comfortable in the car ahead of the full test days at Queensland Raceway on November 23 and 27.

The Ipswich running will mark DJR’s final two allocated test days of the season and, while its regular driver Scott Pye is scheduled to be on hand, the team will run only Ambrose’s car.

Lakeside will meanwhile double as a shakedown for Ambrose’s new chassis, which was officially registered as a V8 Supercars earlier this month.

Team Penske commissioned the construction of the chassis in April, despite being some four months away from striking a deal to form the DJR Team Penske joint-venture for 2015.

The move was made as Penske undertook its due diligence on the category and later raised eyebrows when it emerged that the chassis was headed for the United States.

“Technically there’s nothing different about it, but the benefit is that it wasn’t built in any rush,” said Story of the new car.

“It’s probably the best car that DJR have ever built in terms of finish.”

The chassis, which had also figured in early and ultimately unrealised plans for a Bathurst wildcard in October, will be Ambrose’s race car next season.