Skaife To Retire

[AGENT ORANGE]

Got to love sierra's 100bhp off boost, 550bhp on boost got to love that

[tmac450]

And nothing in between

[tmac450]

Well, it's official. He's announced his retirement

[tab]

You seem a bit depressed

Was just coming in to post the sad news myself....

Bathurst great Skaife quits V8s

October 29, 2008 - 1:08PM

Five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife has announced his retirement from fulltime V8 Supercar racing.

Skaife is among the sport's greatest champions, winning five Bathursts and five Australian touring car championships in a career which started in a Nissan Gazelle in 1987.

The 41-year-old retires with more touring car/V8 round wins than any other driver, taking out 40 of the 211 rounds he has contested.

With fellow V8 champions including Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander looking on, Skaife drew the curtain on his full-time driving career in Melbourne after more than a decade as Holden's highest-profile driver.

Skaife admitted the decision to quit had been difficult, but acknowledged it was the right time to move on.

"Motor racing has been my life for the past 21 years, and as any professional sportsman will attest, if you have a love and passion for what you are doing, then retirement is not something you ever easily consider," Skaife said.

http://news.smh.com.au/sport/bathurst-grea...81029-5b1d.html

[kona86]

just saw the interview on channel 10, he might be a *beep* lol but he has done good! bit sad to see him tear up at the press confrence

[turbojet]

Skaife has retired

[tab]

Really?

[Tree Monkey]

ahh dont, go, .......... it wont be the same with out you skafie, no more sooking just cos you are a tool and you mole of a wife causing troubble in the back ground....(why do you think craig left holden)...CYA tool

[Mr X]

That is very debatable. Brock is touted as the best, purely on his 10 Bathurst wins, and is a lot to do with the marketing hype Expensive Daewoo drummed up around him at the time.

If you disect his Bathurst wins, his king of the mountain crown loses some of it's shine:

Win number 10 (later removed from his CV as a Bathurst win due to the flack he copped for claiming it) was with 3 other drivers in a 7 litre, race prepped Monaro, compeeting against production cars.

Win number 9 was after he lodged a proted against the 1st and 2nd placed Sierras for running incorrect door trims. The winning cars wer disqualified without a right to apeal.

Win 7 or 8 was because he jumped into the lead car towards the end of the race, after his car supposedly failed.

Many of his other wins cam about when he had little or no opposition, right place at the right time. In this case, you can't deny he was the genuine winner, but it hardly qualifies his as the best driver ever.

Looking at other drivers, Larry Perkins and Jim Richards have more genuine wins at Bathurst to their credit, and both of these drivers were sacked by Brock as co-drivers because he couldn't stand sharing the limelight with them.

These days, with parity, and race drivers paid hundreds of thousands to be fine tuned driving machines, it's much harder to do what Brock did, making it near impossible to compare him to the modern day.

Cross entering and the amazing talent of J. Richards helped to make the legend-you're spot on.

I could see how Skaife could get a helmet on-but how did he get it off without dislocating that snozz.?

Its a young focused athletic mans sport now-bye bye Skaife

[01txr]

One down and atleast 2 more wish would follow as in Girly voice Kelly who cant win without punting and his mate Smurphy who also stoops to the punt them off if you cant beat them.

Love it how people can live a lie

Big nose only won races because of gmh's dictatorship.

Most of his wins where against the AU falcon that was not allowed to run the same undertray as the crummy due to the Ford always making more power, there for the falcon was handicap with frontal downforce. Falcon 16kg to crummy 60kg just a slight differance.

As for the greatest - brock, even his first Bathurst win was with a xu1 that ran a alloy engine block and remade steel wheels.

he admitted using the alloy engine block and firth admitted to using the wheels. the wheels kept cracking and breaking the block would crack.

So much for the Gaint killer xu1.

Info Australian Musclecar mag.

And that's just the start of gmh's cheating ways.

Skaife was found to be using illegal suspension in the vr-vs crummy but was also let off.

they even used illegal cylinder heads one bathurst, I was told that Dicky lodged a protest and the officals just kept stalling till the hour passed.

that I had it comfirmed with a co worker (HSV Parts manager of QLD).

not to mention the 4 or was it 6 car team.when the rules only allowed 2 car teams.

Not even a single point penalty.

Then you have the numerous times the lead ford was taken out at bathurst by a back running crummy.

and even a rock.

then the underwear fiasco with the greatest driver australia has everseen Markus Ambrose.

it just goes on so how many honest wins have big nose or brock ever won.

Brock is probably in hell now wishing he wasn't a cheat on the track and off the track on his wife.

Atleast someone smacked him (Husband of the married women he cheated with) for cheating before he past.

He is not going to be missed, but I am sure there will be more puppets that gmh can control.