King of the Creek: Sydney Motorsport Park's crowning moment
Mark Skaife enjoyed one of the more unique moments of a driver’s career at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2007.
The Sydney venue, which will host the resumption of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship season, was a happy hunting ground for Skaife.
Gosford-born Skaife won a record 10 races at the circuit formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway.
In fact, coupled with his record 15 wins at the now defunct Oran Park Raceway, 25 of Skaife’s 90 career wins came in the New South Wales capital.
It’s a remarkable statistic, considering Skaife’s 90 wins came at 17 different circuits.
Skaife matched Brock's round wins tally in 2006 at Pukekohe
Skaife would have to wait until 1995 to claim his first win at Eastern Creek, which made its championship debut in 1992.
He won seven of 11 races staged at the circuit between 1999 and 2002, notably sweeping the three-race 2002 round en route to a crushing championship win.
It was in 2007, though, that Skaife faced his greatest mountain to climb - Peter Brock's record for most ATCC/Supercars round wins.
The previous season hadn't gone to plan after Skaife equalled Brock's record of 37 round wins at Pukekohe in April 2006.
Skaife won a season-high seven races in 2006, but slumped to 16th overall, his worst finish since his debut season in 1987.
Skaife hadn't won in Sydney since 2002 Pic: AN1 Images
The greatest heartbreak came in Bathurst when, in the weeks after Brock's sudden passing, Skaife was wiped out on lap 1 following a stunning pole the day earlier.
Come the Sydney round in 2007, and questions hovered over Skaife of whether he would ever surpass Brock's record.
A strong run of top three finishes in Perth were bookended by mixed results in Adelaide, New Zealand and Winton.
Holden Racing Team teammate Todd Kelly had the edge, having won in Adelaide, and he pipped Skaife to pole in Sydney.
Only the previous month did Skaife put in the self-confessed worst performance of his career at Winton.
At the rural Victorian circuit, the five-time series champion spun off an incredible nine times and failed to score in all three races.
Kelly had beaten Skaife in the championship every year since 2004
The omens sided with Skaife when he arrived in Sydney with a new Commodore, which coincidentally bore the chassis designation 05 - Brock's old number.
Pole man Kelly had a better jump off the front row for Race 1, but baulked and allowed Skaife to sweep into the lead.
Skaife led by 4.3s over the fast-starting Jamie Whincup when the latter pitted on lap 8.
The HRT veteran retained the margin after the stops, and despite a late race Safety Car, still managed to win by over a second.
Come Sunday, and Skaife was forced to defend from a racy Whincup, who was eyeing consecutive round wins.
Defending series champion Rick Kelly demoted Whincup to third, with Skaife and Whincup pitting in unison on lap 8.
Skaife beats Kelly off the start
Kelly retained second after his stop, but Skaife again stretched his muscle in the lead before the stricken Steve Owen triggered the Safety Car.
Shane Price's accident on the restart saw the field bunched together again, forcing a four-lap sprint to the end.
However, with Kelly forced to defend from Whincup, Skaife edged closer to Brock's tally with a comfortable winning margin of 1.8s.
The final heat began with Skaife bogging down off the line, allowing Kelly and Craig Lowndes - who launched from fourth - ahead.
After an early race Safety Car following a Turn 2 skirmish, Todd Kelly pitted from fifth on lap 7.
Rick Kelly had held up Lowndes and Skaife, with the two Commodores peeling off into pit lane on the following lap.
Race 1 victory for Skaife
A quicker stop for Skaife forced the reigning champion hold, with Todd Kelly sweeping into the effective lead ahead of his teammate.
Lowndes, armed with a quick car, split the HRT Commodores after his lap 10 stop.
Try as he might, Lowndes was unable to displace the #22 HRT entry, Kelly claiming his first win since the Adelaide season opener by 0.29s.
Just 0.63s from the win was Skaife, who with third, clinched round honours and duly surpassed the late Brock's record.
"Peter's record was a great record and when we equalled it last year in New Zealand he was the first one on the phone to call me," an emotional Skaife said after the race.
"It's obviously quite sad in one way because that won't happen again but obviously we worked quite hard to achieve what we've achieved.
"It's a very proud, very special moment for me."
'It's a very proud, very special moment for me'
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume under lights in October at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The Eastern Creek venue will stage four back-to-back weekends of racing, starting on October 29.
Fans will be welcome at all events. Ticketing details are being prepared, but fans can expect multi-event packages, family packages, park and view, grandstand and general admission options to cater for all tastes and expectations.
Details of the ticketing information will be communicated by Supercars soon.
Full broadcast details for all events, including details of daily coverage plans, will also be released soon.
Supercars will be working closely with health authorities around COVID-safe measures and Public Health Order requirements to ensure the safety of all staff and patrons attending the event. All teams and officials will follow appropriate health guidelines for each event.
