On this day: Skaife's debut
Mark Skaife is a legend of touring car racing in Australia.
In 2014 he was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame, recognised for his contribution to the category over the years.
A six time Bathurst 1000 winner, five time Champion and former Commission chair, he's one of the most recognised and polarising personalities in V8 Supercars - this year playing a huge part in FOX SPORTS' coverage of the category.
Twenty-eight years ago today, he debuted in the Australian Touring Car Championship at Sandown Raceway.
A 20-year old Skaife was driving a 2.0-litre class Nissan Gazelle among the big cars.
The 2.0-litre cars had their own separate four-round championship in 1987, with the June 7 Sandown race the one time they also raced for outright ATCC points at the same time.
Skaife had already driven the car to third place in the opening round of the 2.0-litre championship at Winton, but this was his first start in what would eventually evolve into the V8 Supercars championship.
It had been a little while coming, as Skaife had been under the watchful eye of Gibson Motorsport owner Fred Gibson the previous year.
"I moved to Melbourne in September 1986, so it was in 1987 that I got that drive," Skaife recalled. "I had been working in the workshop for nearly a year and getting organised as to what opportunities may come out of being in the factory squad.
"Fred offered me the opportunity to jump in the Gazelle, which was great. He handled those things very well, because he was the Roland Dane of the day. He understood what I needed."
The Gazelle produced about 150kW from its 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated engine and weighed in at 900kg, making it light and maneuverable rear-wheel drive race car.
"It was a great little car," Skaife enthused. "It was reasonably light, had nice, driveable engine power and was nicely prepared. It was really well balanced."
After qualifying 23rd on the old Sandown world sports car course, Skaife drove through the field to finish 12th outright and first among the 2.0-litre cars.
"I remember the race, I remember the start and I remember getting my head down and getting with it," he recalled.
Skaife went on to win the 2.0-litre championship for Gibson Motorsport and Nissan in 1987, winning the two remaining stand-alone races at Lakeside in Queensland and the now defunct Amaroo Park circuit in Sydney.
He finished ahead of three Toyota Corollas of Drew Price, John Faulkner and John Smith.
"I remember it was a pretty strong competition with those guys," Skaife said. "The Nissan and Toyota teams were both factory-backed.
"That was a great debut year for me at the factory team and I learned a lot about the requirements of a factory team and how professional they were," he said.
The championship win propelled Skaife into the main class of the ATCC for 1988 with Gibson Motorsport, where he teamed with long-time friend Glenn Seton and George Fury in the challenging new HR31 six-cylinder Nissan Skylines.
Jim Richards joined the team in 1989 and he and Skaife formed a great friendship and potent driving combination.
