Mark Skaife
Mark Stephen Skaife (born April 3, 1967 in Gosford ) is an Australian racing car driver .
Career
Mark Skaife is one of the most popular and successful Australian racing car drivers. His career began in karting in the 1980s . He contested his first car race in 1984 when he started a touring car race in Amaroo Park . In 1985 he spent his first full season in the Ford Laser Series, a touring car brand cup. He finished the racing series in second place overall, which he succeeded again in the following year. He also started in the Bathurst 1000-kilometer race for the first time in 1986 , but his team-mate Peter Williamson had an accident in the last training session and Skaife had to forego a final run. This race became a key in the Australian's career. He could win the most famous sports car race in Australia five times in his career. For the first time he won in 1991 together with Jim Richards on a Nissan Skyline BNR32 GT-R . After he was victorious again in 1992, 2001 and 2002, he celebrated his fifth and so far last triumph in 2005 with Todd Kelly on a Holden VY Commodore .
He holds several records in the Australian Touring Car Championship and the successor series, the V8 Supercars . In 218 starts, he celebrated 87 wins. In 1992 and 1994 he won the overall touring car championship, and in 2000, 2001 and 2002 that of the V8 Supercars. In 2009 he began to limit his racing activities and has since worked as a co-commentator for the Australian TV station Seven Sport .
1992 Skaife was briefly active in the International Formula 3000 Championship . The Australian then only came to Europe once as a racing driver. At the invitation of Lister Cars , he contested the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1997 . As a partner of Thomas Erdos and Julian Bailey , he had to give up the race prematurely after a gearbox damage.
For his services to Australian motorsport, he was awarded the Order of Australia in 2004.
statistics
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 |
 Newcastle United Lister Storm
|
Lister Storm GTL |
 Thomas Erdos
|
Julian Bailey
|
failure | Gearbox damage |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Skaife, Mark |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Skaife, Mark Stephen (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian racing car driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1967 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gosford |