Asian Motor Sports

Holden Racing Team Driver Mark Skaife will make another attempt at beating racing legend Peter Brock’s record for the most touring car wins in Australian history. Currently tied with Brock at 37 round victories, Skaife returns to the track at Oran Park this weekend to pit his Holden Commodore against competitors in the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

“Oran Park has been a happy hunting ground for us, no question,” Skaife said. “It is always a very stern test in terms of all the things that are needed to make a car go well. It’s very demanding, and one of the most active in terms of driver input.

“We’ve had a lot of success there so I tend to think of it very fondly, as well as the fact that it’s sort of my ‘home’ track - it is where I did a lot of kart racing in my junior years.”

The Holden Racing Team won the Oran Park round seven consecutive times from 1996 to 2002, with Skaife responsible for the latter four victories. Since arriving at HRT in 1998 (upon the retirement of Peter Brock) he has also taken pole position at the Western Sydney track on three occasions and won a total of 10 races. Skaife also holds the qualifying record set in 1999.

Besides Brock, Skaife is one of the most popular and successful touring car race drivers Australia has ever produced. After initial success in karting, Skaife switched to cars. He won the 2-liter Australian Touring Car Championship in 1987 and the Formula Brabham Australian Drivers Championship in 1991, 1992 and 1993. His touring car career includes five Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar championships (1992, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002) and five Bathurst 1000 victories.