Skaife to retire

[Bravotwozero]

No headline
October 24, 2008
Race legend
to make his
final pit stop
THE checkered flag is about to drop on one of Australia's great motor-racing careers with Holden's Mark Skaife set to announce his retirement from V8 Supercars next week.


The five-time Bathurst champion will quit the sport at the end of the year with Ford young-gun Will Davison tipped to take his seat at the powerful Holden Racing Team (HRT).
Skaife -- a touring car legend with more than 210 race starts -- has been under pressure to retain his drive with HRT after a number of disappointing results this year.


Holden powerbrokers last week met in Victoria to discuss the ageing champion's position on the team following a disastrous Bathurst campaign where he and teammate Garth Tander finished in 12th place.
"He is hoping to make a decision in the next couple of weeks," said a Holden spokesman. "He has a lot to think about.
"It is important he goes out on his own terms. For a guy who has been so successful it is important he finishes the way he wants."
Raised on the NSW Central Coast, Skaife has been wrestling with the decision for some time.


The 41-year-old would not comment on his future last night with racing at the Indy 300 on the Gold Coast to begin today.
The end of Skaife's illustrious career is expected to catapult Jim Beam Racing driver Davison to stardom with a seat on glamour team HRT.
The off-contract driver last night confirmed a number of approaches from rival teams but would not confirm or deny he is poised to sign on with HRT as Skaife's replacement. "It is all going on but I have nothing to announce and nothing has been finalised," Davison said.
"I can't say what is going on but I am very comfortable with what is happening. It has been a very slow process and we have eliminated a number of things.
"It is getting to the stage of the year where we will finalise something and it is basically down to a couple of teams."


Skaife's Holden teammate Tander would not speculate on his 2009 race partner. "We are just focusing on the championship and obviously there is a lot of rumour and speculation about," he said.
Skaife made his touring car debut in 1987 at Sandown in a Nissan Gazelle before going on to become one of Australia's most successful drivers.
He won his first Bathurst title in 1991 and replaced the late Peter Brock as the face of Holden in 1998. He won a record 40 touring car races and five championship titles


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23770,00.html

 

[minux]

Its about 2 years overdue i think. At least now he can concentrate on running HRT and making it an unbeatable force liek it was when he was a little younger.

If Will does sign with HRT, watch out. Will and Garth will dominate the series and Ford will cry and rules will be changed again and again to help them win

 

[BANKS]

what rules where changed?

 

[minux]

what rules where changed?

How about project blueprint to allow parity to start with?

 

[greenfoam]

Project bluecheat

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Such a shame, hopefully he takes over HRT

 

[STEALTHY™]

Media at it again. One of the first lines in the report "It is important he goes out on his own terms. For a guy who has been so successful it is important he finishes the way he wants."

That basically answers it, he'll retire when he's good and ready. And while he's not finishing 29th, he much still be doing something right.

How about project blueprint to allow parity to start with?

No coincidence that fords colour is 'blue' and the parity is called 'blue'print.

 

[hingo1983]

How about bringing back the old homologation rules. That way we get good racing, and awesome road cars.

 

[Reaper]

How about bringing back the old homologation rules. That way we get good racing, and awesome road cars.

Way too expensive for the manufacturers. Can't see it happening for a long time if ever.

Reaper

 

[hingo1983]

Surely putting a roll cage in a FPV and HSV and racing them on the track wouldn't cost anymore than building a full blown race car from pretty much scratch? I'm sure the people who watch the V8's would also be ultra keen to own a car similar to what is on the track. Doesn't have to be a big run or anything, even if it was only about 100 of them, its still nice knowing that they are racing real cars you can get from a showroom and the constructors can make a few bucks in the process.