Mark Skaife announces retirement as an enduro driver

[thunderbolt]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226168292415

MARK Skaife has finally hung up his helmet with the Holden legend today announcing his stint as specialist endurance driver is over.

[Nicholosophy]

It's probably the right decision. A shame that he had to make the call early but in the end you can't drive forever.

With his technical ability though, perhaps V8 Supercars could use him to try out their Car of Tomorrow or some such thing?

[mountainstar]

I think he showed to himself, among anyone else that he still had it after all the HRT mess and often I think it is best to get out at the top step and move forward to new adventures. He was very successful and doesn't have anything else to win.

[GTRMagic]

Somehow I dont think Mr Skaife will be lost to driving, but maybe not racing...

Speedcafe Story Here

Looks like a future in testing the CotF unit will be in Mr Skaife's immediate future!

[Nicholosophy]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Somehow I dont think Mr Skaife will be lost to driving, but maybe not racing...

Speedcafe Story Here

Looks like a future in testing the CotF unit will be in Mr Skaife's immediate future!

Looks like they read my post above

[Senna05]

I think Mark's ability to win championships left us in 2005, the desire to do the driving stuff as a full time job clearly left his eyes.

But, he has shown, that he can still set up a car and still drive a few laps at incredible pace. The drive in the Tasman commodore in 2009 was something special, and his work with Craig since then has been spectacular.

Good on you Mark! Congratulations on a stellar Touring Car career. I hope that we still might see you fling a touring car masters car, or GT around in the future!

[Pro Racer]

well don MS on all your achievements and good luck in these future endevours.

i think we will see MS pop up behind the wheel somehow in the future in public possibly doing demos/promotion with CotF.

[doug05]

What a shame, would have been great to see you race at least one more year. Your drives this year have been as good as any of the other co-drivers, and probably better than a few of the regulars. At least it was good to see the 'has been' show everyone how far from the truth that really was.

Maybe we can see you with JR in the TCM?

[Micklegend]

Does this mean no more channel 7 commentary too? Id suggest being on the payroll of those with TV rights would be a conflict of interest for a person with such a high profile role.

Maybe next year we will see more of the other teams in the game than the one he drove for too!

[Axeman444]

He has said elsewhere he is looking forward to commentating on his 1st Bathurst, so he will still be there to annoy you

[formerf1champ]

I wonder if he feels obliged to take the position. I suspect, if he wanted to, he could keep his seat alongside Craig for a fair number of years yet, and he still gives up that drive?

[rik]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

I wonder if he feels obliged to take the position. I suspect, if he wanted to, he could keep his seat alongside Craig for a fair number of years yet, and he still gives up that drive?

Business has always floated his boat... Gotta believe it was his choice, not forced, unlike the HRT situation.

Either way, I reckon he's quit both full-time and enduro driving too soon.

[formerf1champ]

Yeah, probably. It's just, when you think in the past, drivers didn't have a problem competing in their late 40's, even into their 50's, I get the impression that some guys talk themselves out of it, using the notion that it's a "young man's sport" now, which is kind of overrated me thinks. But anyway...

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

Yeah, probably. It's just, when you think in the past, drivers didn't have a problem competing in their late 40's, even into their 50's, I get the impression that some guys talk themselves out of it, using the notion that it's a "young man's sport" now, which is kind of overrated me thinks. But anyway...

I am not so sure about that. A couple of guys who have stepped away from full time driving have not been particularly strong when they came back for the enduros... I am thinking most recently of Mr Seton and Mr Richards here, but there have been others like Mr Perkins too..

With the change to CotF, and a very different handling characteristic for the 'new' post-2013 V8Supercar, those blokes who have survived in enduro land on having used the Dunlop control tyre on current spec cars for so long, will also be on a steep learning curve that even a run in the Fujitsu development series won't get you ready for...

[peckstar]

i think it is a young mans sport though, at least to run at the front in the No 1 championship in the land.

I do think there are otehr championships the older blokes can run well in.

its been many years since an older bloke ran well in the v8 championship and even if you consider the older blokes that did run, they were usally beaten by there team mate in latter years.

[porsche91722]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i think it is a young mans sport though, at least to run at the front in the No 1 championship in the land.

I do think there are otehr championships the older blokes can run well in.

its been many years since an older bloke ran well in the v8 championship and even if you consider the older blokes that did run, they were usally beaten by there team mate in latter years.

Yeah, Lowndes ought to give the game away. These young blokes are showing him a thing or two.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by porsche91722

Yeah, Lowndes ought to give the game away. These young blokes are showing him a thing or two.

lowndes is 37, still in the acceptable range, but at the upper end.

but once you hit 40, that about it

[DAVID PATERSON]

Here's a job for a stats nerd. i'd love to see table showing the age of every ATCC & V8SC winner at the time they won the Championship.

[peckstar]

what i can say is
Oldest Champion
ROBBIE FRANCEVIC
1986 - 44 years, 8 months, 25 days
dick was 42 when he won in 99, rusty was about 40 in 05 jin was about 44 when he won in 91

they are the most recent oldest

[Forda]

Money talks etc.

What a shame Mr Skaife has given up maybe one or two more Bathurst wins, to the same organisation that rolled the once prestigious Bathurst race into yet another touring car calendar race.

Hopefully his earning capacity over the next x number of years in his new position will largely outweigh his co-driver salary, particularly given it might be a co-driver's winning salary & status.

Not the first time Mr Skaife has been screwed over into making such a life-bearing (i.e. financial) decision.

[formerf1champ]

OK, it's easy to pick specific examples as to why my post is invalid, and I wrote it taking into account the memory of Perkins's performance whatever year it was. With Seton, imo, he appears, to me, as though he doesn't really want it enough, in fact I've had that impression of him not long after he sold his team, otherwise he'd be a lock in.

So let me put it another way, as much as i don't want to acknowledge Mark Skaife in any positive fashion, I think Mark Skaife could be a serious chance to win Bathurst (with Lowndes in a 888) easily into his 50's. I would take him over any other reasonable suggestion. I recknon Forda is bang on.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by peckstar

to run at the front in the No 1 championship in the land.

[BlueMax]

Originally Posted by peckstar

lowndes is 37, still in the acceptable range, but at the upper end.

but once you hit 40, that about it

Peckstar, you should write a letter to Dr Ulrich at Audi Motorsport and tell him that he has it all wrong, because his lead drivers are all on the wrong side of 40.
Those LMP1 Audi's are so much faster then a V8 supercar, but in Europe age does not come into it.
The FIA rate professional drivers as good enough to be classified as "Gold" drivers up to 55 years of age. They then drop them back to "Silver" rating.

Here the lounge chair experts say once you hit 40 "don't let the door hit you on the way out"

There are numerous drivers that have won at a older age. Here and overseas.

Jack Brabham was still winning formula 1 races at 44 years of age.

Colin Bond won 2 rounds of the Atcc in 1990 aged 48 and was in the running for the championship.
Allan Grice and Win Percy won Bathurst in 1990, Grice a couple of days short of 48 and Win the same age (48).

There are also numerous drivers that have had the speed at an older age.
Jim Richards qualified 3rd at Bathurst in 2003 as an "Endurance Driver" at 56 years of age.

AJ Foyt qualified 2nd at the Indy 500 in 1991 aged 56 and was running up the front until car problems.

As I have said before. It is not the age factor that slows people down (it will eventually I agree) but the motivation to push as hard as you can and lay it all on the line.

Stirling Moss has just retired from Historic Racing in Europe, I think Sir Stirling is about 82-83. The reason- Racing at Lemans this year in Historics he says that to win he had to push himself harder and drive faster if he wanted to be up the front.
He wasn't prepared to drive that fast anymore.

It depends when in your life you make that decision either consciously or
un-consciously that you are not prepared to lay it all on the line.
It is not that you turn 40 and can no longer do it. The really good guys don't lose that albility to drive at 40 or 50 years of age. But the motivation to let it all hang out and have that devil may care attitude.

[porsche91722]

Originally Posted by BlueMax

Peckstar, you should write a letter to Dr Ulrich at Audi Motorsport and tell him that he has it all wrong, because his lead drivers are all on the wrong side of 40...................

While I agree with what you are saying, this is probably not a great point to back it up. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello haven't exactly had the greatest of years.

[mountainstar]

There is tons of examples of very successful touring car drivers in their 40's, ATCC history is filled to the brim with them. Tarquini recently won the WTCC at nearly 50 and Plato is winning championships in the BTCC in his 40's.