HOLDEN 1
12-05-2008, 07:35 AM
When Mark Skaife knew retirement was imminent, he started putting together a plan for life after driving.
Other sportsmen would have come up with a laundry list of options, maybe written on a sheet of note paper or the back of a beer coaster.
Skaife came up with a 75-page treatise loosely titled “Mark Skaife after motor racing” - with in-depth options, pros and cons should he choose to retire in 2008 or 2009.
It is the sort of attention to detail that has made the 41-year-old one of Australia’s best ever race drivers.
Rarely has a driver been so driven.
“He’s got great passion for the sport, he’s dedicated, he’s a worker,” says his greatest V8 contemporary Craig Lowndes.
“I remember when we were teammates at HRT (Holden Racing Team).
“I’d be going home to the hotel and he’d still have his head buried in data.
“He’s definitely 110 per cent, very focused about what he wants to achieve. He and I probably complemented each other - I’m a bit more light-hearted about things and he’s very serious.”
After five V8 Supercar championships, five Bathurst 1000 triumphs, more round wins than anyone else and a stellar 21-year career in Australia’s premier motor racing category, Skaife will finish fulltime driving this weekend in the season finale at Oran Park.
He bows out of his sport still competitive, though not in the championship-winning zone he was earlier this decade.
A sad weekend for all. Will miss ya Skaifey
Other sportsmen would have come up with a laundry list of options, maybe written on a sheet of note paper or the back of a beer coaster.
Skaife came up with a 75-page treatise loosely titled “Mark Skaife after motor racing” - with in-depth options, pros and cons should he choose to retire in 2008 or 2009.
It is the sort of attention to detail that has made the 41-year-old one of Australia’s best ever race drivers.
Rarely has a driver been so driven.
“He’s got great passion for the sport, he’s dedicated, he’s a worker,” says his greatest V8 contemporary Craig Lowndes.
“I remember when we were teammates at HRT (Holden Racing Team).
“I’d be going home to the hotel and he’d still have his head buried in data.
“He’s definitely 110 per cent, very focused about what he wants to achieve. He and I probably complemented each other - I’m a bit more light-hearted about things and he’s very serious.”
After five V8 Supercar championships, five Bathurst 1000 triumphs, more round wins than anyone else and a stellar 21-year career in Australia’s premier motor racing category, Skaife will finish fulltime driving this weekend in the season finale at Oran Park.
He bows out of his sport still competitive, though not in the championship-winning zone he was earlier this decade.
A sad weekend for all. Will miss ya Skaifey