Mark Skaife has explained his post-race comments regarding Shane van Gisbergen, saying he has reached out to Triple Eight management.
Van Gisbergen won the Thrifty Newcastle 500 finale on Sunday, and later declined to answer questions after the race.
Supercars Hall of Famer and broadcaster Skaife’s on-air response came before van Gisbergen issued a personal statement on Monday.
Speaking to News Corp Australia, Skaife reiterated that the comments weren’t intended to be "spiteful”.
“I normally cop flak from everybody for how much support and how complimentary I am of Shane and his performances,” Skaife explained.
“Normally when I compliment him on his performances in the car everyone smashes me, saying ‘You’re a Triple Eight fan’ or ‘You’re a van Gisbergen fan’.
“I made sure that my comments the other day were not from [the point of view of] being a board member or hierarchy in any way from Supercars.
“I was making a comment as a Fox Sports commentator regarding what the expectation is of a champion, of an ambassador for our sport. That was simply it.
“There was nothing spiteful [intended], I certainly didn’t want him to feel like I had kicked him in the teeth for instance. It wasn’t that.
“I was making a point that there was a responsibility and a duty under the normal conditions that we play in and that was all.”
Skaife has reached out to Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup and the team's technical director Jeromy Moore.
It comes as the team readies for its appeal hearing regarding the Race 1 disqualifications of van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney.
“I called Jamie and Jeromy to say how do you want me to move forward," Skaife continued.
"I made the offer to fly up to Brisbane. I had a really good open discussion with Jeromy and Jamie, Jamie as the CEO of the business and Jeremy the technical director, to talk about the issue with Shane.
"It was a very open and honest discussion and where we finished was Jamie was going to talk to Shane and we would meet up going into the Grand Prix.
"That’s where I left it and I haven’t spoken to them again, we just have a couple of text exchanges."
Van Gisbergen is 11th in the championship heading to the next round at Albert Park, 126 points behind leader Chaz Mostert.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint on March 30-April 2.