Skaife announces retirement

By Matt Brogan | October 29th, 2008

Whether you stand on the blue or the red side of the line, there is no argument that Mark Skaife is one of the true legends of the V8 Supercar track and today he will call an end to his illustrious career. After more than 20 years in the racing suit Skaife will today announce at a Melbourne press conference that this will be his last season behind the wheel of his HRT Commodore.

After recording some disappointing results this season, the five-time Bathurst champion has been fighting off speculation of a retirement for a good part of the year. His official announcement of hanging up the boots may see young gun Will Davison make the trek over from Ford to fill the Skaife void next season but Davidson hasn’t confirmed anything yet. Retirement talk stepped up after Skaife crashed out of contention at his favourite circuit, Bathurst, and later admitted driver fault.

All that aside, Skaife will undoubtedly go down in the record books as one of the sport’s most successful drivers. He made his touring car debut at Sandown in 1987 in a Nissan Gazelle and went on to take out the championship five times, the first in 1992. He continued to be one of the leading drivers throughout his career and replaced the late Peter Brock as the face of Holden in 1998. After 210 starts, Skaife has built up an impressive list of achievements and the question is now, what will he do next?

Despite putting the brakes on his racing career, there is no doubt 41-year-old Skaife’s blood runs red – Holden red that is and his involvement with the company will no doubt continue. While he will no doubt enjoy the extra time with his wife and three children, chances are we will also see his face around the media circuit with which he already has a good profile and who knows, maybe even a commentating role. Whatever he chooses next, I’m sure we won’t see the Holden legend fade into obscurity.

azza21

I thought he could have gone at least one more season. What a sad day it will be when they line up at adelaide next year without skaify…
d-one

no offense to skaife but i hope a commenting role doesn’t come about, imagine skaife and crompton together, with an occasional slathering of brad jones, bloody hell cromley and jones are bad enough
MB

All the best for Mark, he has been a champion driver.

I just wish he went overseas and raced against others, perhaps there is an oppurtunity now to race enduros like Le Mans, Spa.

He did race in the Lister Storm and the Primera in the World Cup in the past.

Again all the best with your projects Mark.
Bavarian Missile

Should have retired 12 months ago !

Hey VW Freak do I remember the Skafie and Ingall moment,hell yeah I bought Russell’s front guard that punted Skafie off the track…………..Priceless moment.
Richo

On ya Skaifey, retired before you became a bit of a joke, unlike Johnson and Perkins who where well past it when they eventually retired. I’m a big fan of Perkins by the way, but I think even he would admit that he held on for too long. As for Brock, he was still winning races and driving and qualifying at the front of the field in his retirement year, so I don’t know why anyone would criticise him for hanging around too long considering he was still at the front. He did have one too many come backs though!

But back on Skaife, statistics say he is the most successful driver in Australian touring car history. Love or hate the bloke, that’s something that can never be taken away from him, at least until someone betters the mark, which no one is even close to at the moment.

No matter which side of the fence your on or how much you may not like the guy, and there are a lot out there who don’t, you have to respect what he has achieved, I sure as hell do! Who could forget him standing on the podium at Bathurst in 1992! Everyone remembers Richo calling everyone a pack of assholes, but for me it was Skaife standing there as if he wanted to bash someone that really summed up the feeling in the Nissan camp that year!

I actually hope Skaife does some commentary with channel 7 next year, he’d have a way better on air relationship with Crompton then matt white has, Crompton and White don’t even seem to like each other sometimes… Also did you hear Skaifey in the box at Winton this year? He was outstanding, insightful and entertaining, and surprisingly un biased! Except for the odd anti-ford joke here and there which you could tell he was just doing to stir up Crompton a bit.
Richo

Frugal One what the hell? Go and stuff off and stuff off now! we aren’t even talking about Brock here! The allegations made by his ex wife where never founded and she didn’t even raise the allegations untill after he was dead… trying to sell a story much??

and silver spoon? he was born and raised on a farm by a farmer you ignoramous, last time i checked victorian farmers in the 1950′s where anything but rich! he was completely self made unlike a number of the current drivers.
Richo

Ironic that you say you only respect drivers who had a go overseas, but it was the fact that the Brock family where poor which prevented Peter from having a go overseas when he was younger, and then when he was older, he actually did have a go! Just shows how ignorant you are!! His HDT squad took a group a commodore overseas and competed in the world touring car championship (which was a very big deal back then) and with Bob Jane’s support they also bought a porsche and raced at LeMans!

So if that isn’t having a go overseas then I don’t know what is! And more then that he did it to try and prove a point to the europeans that we have the talent in this country to build and race cars as well as anyone else in the world!

So fck you Frugal one or dingo or whoever it may be, your being an ass and a very ill-informed one at that! Just go away before you hurt yourself.

Let’s get back to skaife and leave it there
http://faster DanMan

Reading between the lines, you think he knows more than us about the cutbacks GM/holden/ HSV whatever are going to have to make in 2009 to keep the ship aflout..

Better to jump before being pushed.. I expect a dramatic cutback on ALL motorsport sponsorship in this country next year..
billy_bob_119

As much as i dislike this guy it is a sad time for all V8 Super car fans as we come to grips that these drivers are getting older. I Think that This year or next year will see a few more drivers retire such as Russel.
This retirement might make him more popular in V8′s than he is at the moment.
Richo

You just happen to know the nurse who treated her eh? Yeah right… And the media reports where allegations of bashing, nothing at all about rape, but why should that stop you from making it up ay? Your just digging into a bloke who isn’t around to defend himself. Get a life mate!

And the fact that you didn’t defend yourself against being accused of being Dingo clearly indicates that this is definitely Dingo, and not frugal one.

Get a life dingo and stop impersonating other people on these forums. If you don’t have the guts to put your own name to your stupid comments then what does that tell you?
ZANDIT

F_O, you are a tool, would you have said things like this if he was still alive, or kept your mouth shut like you should have earlier. Have you seen the car Brocky built so he could learn to race on his family farm? He worked hard to become the driver he was just like Skaife. No one gets it handed to them any more unless its a series you can buy a seat in.

Back on subject, goodluck with the future Skaifie, maybe you should have gone to Ford along with Lowndsey!!! It wasn’t you that failed it was your brand!!(that should stir the pot a little!!!)
Matt

All the best Skaifey! Hope HSV retain him for product development and tuning.
Richo

When you think about it, skaife has plenty of things he could possibly do if he wanted to, including his continued commercial involvement in HRT considering he is 50% owner of the team, product development with HRT as Matt pointed out (he already is involved in that), he may want to become one of the team representatives on the V8 supercar board again, he will probably still drive a bit doing the enduro’s next year, maybe he could do a bit of production car racing or GT sports car racing like John Bowe has done since retiring (how cool would it be if he got back in touch with his Nissan roots and drove a GTR in the Australian GT championship!!!), he could well have a role with channel 7’s coverage of the V8’s as well. I think more so then any other driver when they have retired (except probably dicky and Larry who both had teams to run) Skaife is not going to have enough time in the day to do everything that is available to him!

Good stuff if you can get it eh?
Bret

I reckon it’s probaly at least 1 if not 2 years too late.

The team ownership and other behind the scene activities haven’t helped him recently – he lost the edge long ago.

I recall how he was everyone’s best mate when he was out in front, but my how he changed to being just another thug on the track when parity caught up and he was back in the pack.

Probaly be a more involved role behind the pit wall, rather than commentry is most likely.
Astro

I’m a Ford fan but have to say Skaife gave us some very entertaining drives over the years and was in some of it’s most controversial moments.

The battles between him and Marcos Ambrose are still some of the best racing ever seen.

He departs the sport with great respect from all corners.

All the best Skaife.
Azza221

I know he’s had a bad season, but even last year skaife still had a few podiums and a round win. Plus his shootout lap at bathurst last yr was one of his best laps ever and just off pole.
topdog

Sad to see him go but in all honesty since he took over the outfit hes been going backwards since then and hes been doing more harm to hes high driving standards hes always off the pace now he should called it a day 2 years ago when he was at the top
Andrew M

DanMan,
you are in over your head (once again)

sponsorship dollars have been increased for next year.
the signings take place before the previous season ends usually, and plenty who were out of contract have signed on for healthy amounts yet again for next year.

………………………………
on topic,
yep, probably 12 months too late.
its the best decision in the intrest of the teams performance.
its prob unfair to say he should have retired while he was still up top, because wouldnt that spur him on to keep coming back if the results proved he still had it?

so who are holden going to put up the front to take over the pretend ownership that skaiffe currently holds??
Falcodore

Good luck in the future Skaifey, its been entertaining watching you race over the years.
Dunno what F-Os been posting, must’ve been blocked.
VW Freak

C’mon CA, why’d you pull my comment? Now BM looks like he’s talking to himself (responding to my comment about Skaife vs Ingall) why didn’t you just leave that in there?!? If you didn’t like the truth about Channel 7, then you should’ve just pulled that part.
Bavarian Missile

Hey VW Freak me a she not a he……………

Didnt think your comment was that bad myself ? Someones reported you probably! Who knows why?
Bavarian Missile

Looks like Tander will be holding the fort by himself,seeing the Kelly Boys are set to team up their own team next year and Dumbrell is gone ! Anyone want to be a V8 Supercar driver for HRT ? My hands not up.
Richo

BM – Will Davison is taking Skaife’s seat and Dumbrell will still be run in “autobarn racing” colours by walkinshaw racing, but his entry willl effectively be a third HRT car, just in different colours
Andrew M

Richo,
Davison is heavily rumoured to be taking the spot.

he still hasnt signed yet.
he had a mountain of offers on the table and rightly so.

no doubt the HRT offer would have been the most attractive

Shame, shame, shame,
i would have really loved to see DJR be able to retain him in the interest of a talented and stable driver line up especially since their cars are really starting to come on song
t

seeya skaifey!

Now the leading whinging king holden role can be officially passed on to GREG MURPHY!!!

ah… skaifey hasnt been a whinger for the last 2 years, i guess he mellowed a bit?

best of luck to him. I never liked him, but he did a lot for the supertaxi racing.
Tom

I still don’t know if i understand the hatred towards Skaife, but he has been underperforming these last few seasons.

he’s had a good run, i just hope he’s remember for his absolute domination in the late 90′s, not for his fall from glory in the last few years.
t

ANDREW M

Love the bit about skaifeys pretend ownership.

been saying that for years myself lol.
http://www.littlepixiegifts.com.au Gift-Ed

Sorry to see him go, but it does seem like time. He hasn’t been on form for the last couple of years now.

He’s one of the all time greats, no doubt about it.
topdog

Some of his best racing was when he was racing skylines i use t olove watching him though those nissans around
VW Freak

I’m so sorry BM, my bad.

One must wonder if Skaife is sensing what might be happening to V8s in the next few years, are they slowly crumbling away?
Richo

Just read that Uncle Tom has already found Skaifey a new job, as of next year he will be the “Director of Racing” for the Holden Racing Team.

Now i’m not really sure what that is, but if it’s anything like what the “director of football” is at soccer clubs, Skaife will be the guy who hires the personal including the drivers as well as setting the general direction for the team to go in.

Sounds like a fairly big job, but who knows it could just be a ceremonial job as well who knows, although Skaife has always been fairly involved in the management of race teams so i’m guessing its probably legitamite. He was team manager of Gibson Motorsport as well as being the driver back in his Nissan/Winfield days
Andrew M

Yep,
i read that this arvo too Richo.

Isnt it funny how he is told what his responsibilities will be in the team he apparently owns??? ha ha ha ha

quick skaiffey, shuffle those papers in order to postpone the court date and give yourself more time to present something that resembles your name on the ownership papers.
we dont want another audit now do we??
No. 1

LOL, clearly some ppl here havn’t read the code of conduct. But thats a different matter.

I have to say, whether ur a Holden, or Ford person, or whether u think ur too good for V8 Supercars, u still gotta respect what Skaife has achieved in his Touring Car career.

Although i have to say their is one thing i dnt understand about V8 Supercars/Supercar Drivers. Why is it that barely any owner drivers are successful.

I mean skaife was going pretty well, Until he took owner ship of HRT, (or as some like to say that he didn’t actually own the team) then his racing started slowly going downhill. Its probably a commitment thing, i think owner drivers are too involved in the team sometimes and lack a bit in their driving.

All in all, i hope we still see him on the Enduro’s.
Richo

No. 1 – To answer your question about the owner drivers thing, Skaife actually said that one of the reasons behind his decision was because he was finding that he was getting more “turned on” but putting together business plans and doing sponsorship pitches then actually getting in the car and driving it. I think that’s the distraction of being an owner driver, you get so caught up in running your team, you have big plans and you get excited about those plans and you commit all of your time and energy into making them happen, then suddenly you have to jump in the race car and your like “err I haven’t even thought about this…” and the V8’s are just so competitive now that you just can’t do that, you need to be completely switched on to be able to drive at the limit lap after lap.
Richo

also typical channel 7 crap on the news last night! If a big AFL star or NRL star retired they would have it at the start of the bulletin and then commit another 5 minutes to it in the sport report. Instead channel 7, supposedly the home of V8 supercars, give Skaife, one of the biggest names EVER in australian motorsport, a brief 1 minute grab towards the end of the sport report… absolute crap
Gavin

Does anyone else find the whole V8 supercars format totally boring now? I used to be a huge fan in the 90′s but today the cars are so far removed from the road car that the whole format seems to be irrelevant.
It used to be just as much about the team and car than the driver.

Now its really all about the driver as the cars are virtually identical. I think it’s time to bring back a true factory touring car format.
http://www.ausringers.com Liam

Boring? Now?

Haha, it was a half-cocked format right from the start. Okay, the racing can be good from time to time, but as a concept, the Ford v Holden thing was always boring.
Richo

No offence Gavin but I don’t think you could be watching all that closely if you don’t think the teams play a huge roll in the racing these days. Todd Kelly was racing at the front last year in a HRT commodore, he goes to Perkins and has really struggled developing the car. Russell Ingall struggled last year with SBR, he goes over to PMM and suddenly is on form, Lowndes did nothing for years and years since leaving Holden, then he linked up with 888 and has been at the front ever since. If you really think that the teams don’t play a role, then you must have your eyes closed.

And the reason they have gone away from production racing is a) safety, V8 supercars are way way way safer then group a production racing ever was, b) the spectacle, production cars are generally fairly slow, V8 supercars are much much quicker and therefore the spectacle is much better, and c) group a production racing which is what we had back in the 80 and early 90’s was actually hugely expensive, hence why at any one time there was only really 3 competitive teams in Australia. V8 supercars, relatively speaking because V8’s race in a different climate to what the old group a raced in, but relatively speaking V8 supercar is actually a lot cheaper then group a production racing used to be.

Also you refer back to the ‘90’s, do you mean when HRT just dominated everything because they had the biggest budget and therefore had a car that was miles better then anyone elses? Because seriously those where a boring couple of years even for a Holden fan like myself!
Gavin

None taken mate.
I am not watching carefully any more. I find the format boring . Still enjoy bathurst though.
No. 1

Richo, i agree about the channel 7 thing, i mean Channel 7 never used to give a stuff about V8 supercars, and only used to mention bathurst for a split second in the News, but then when they found out that they would be broadcasting V8 supercars, then they started drawing their attention to V8 supercars. Although even on race weekend they still dnt give a full proper news report in sport about all the racing that went on, they only give it a second or 2 and then move on.

And I used to always watch the v8′s, but ever since channel 7 had them, i have missed so many v8 races. Maybe thats because im used to getting my Motorsport from Channel 10.

AND Liam (“the Ford v Holden thing was always boring”), are u seriously suggesting that we put some FWD V6 Aurions in their, or maybe we should add some Buggati’s, Ferrari’s, Lambo’s and Porches to the Mix. Its Aussie Touring Car racing mate.
Andrew M

Liam,
if its so boring with out half a dozen extra car in the mix,
how come the other production car series struggle and will never reach the great fortunes that the V8 supercar formula has reached??

ever heard of the Procar series, or Performance car series???
they carry the very same formula you seem to desire, yet the amount of feet attending the V8 races and the bums on seats at home watching it seem to paint a picture that you and others that share the same opinion are in the minority
http://. Naughtyius Maximus

Andrew M – you should play darts…..you hit the bullseye there with last comment!
Andrew M

Gee NM,
havent seen you around for ages…..
jon

Actually for the record Skaife was born with a silver spoon in his mouth it was his Dad`s money that got him there, it wasn`t self made, well not by him. But seriously who really cares, if it wasn`t for the cheating by HRT[traction control] he wouldn`t won as many and Lowndes would of still been driving a Commodore if it wasn`t for Skaife and his back stabbing and the secret testing. Gee people have short memories anyway it will be dead soon when Ford goes front drive and isn`t that part of the reason the other 2 big manufacturers at the time couldn`t join.
http://. Naughtyius Maximus

Hey Andrew M…….yeah you get that! Glad your on here as your of sound mindset; unlike some who leave me shaking my head massive! Hows ya cute ute…..dam sweet colour hey. Iam actually seeing mega heaps of new Focus’s (update model with better working at air intake) and heaps of Falcons hey! You happy with ya beaut ute? Hey Iam moving up your way – what town are you at?
http://google joshua mason

hi skafie how hard was it to retire i whant to know are you still going to race later or not???????
Andrew M

NM,
yeah the ute is awesome, I love it!!!

Ill drop ya a line as to keep the personal chit chat on the down low.

CA have had to tighten up on everyone just to keep the ones that wreck it at bay

Jon,
V8 supercars is open to any proposals from any manufacturers. it just so happens toyota hasnt submitted a proposal.
the main things to enter the category that V8SC are firm on is a minimum amount of vehicles, and a minimum amount of time that any new manufacturer will stay in the game for as to eliminate a 1 or 2 car super team with masses of money pumped into it.
jon

Andrew M Ah ok I thought they had a few years ago but maybe Im wrong, but anyway the whole Ford v Holden thing is a little prehistoric especially considering they are nothing like the road going versions just don`t understand the merit of V8 supercars
Duck

So will, Will Davison replace Skaifey’s position and become Tanders new team mate?
FRUGAL–ONE

[Your comment is awaiting moderation…I THINK NOT!]

*****PRIMO!***** [And rightly so!]

brock [does not and will not get CAPITALS] is nothing more than a egotistical WIFE BASHER

May he rot in hell

Cheers

F-0