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Despite being the lead driver in a team with, at least, resouces and funding equal to any other team, Mark Skaife has not won a V8 supercar round since Sandown 2003 (source..Melb Age, Monday 12.9.05.)
Is he over the hill?
His co-driver seems to be quicker, more consistant, and kinder to the car.
Skaife has more off-track excursions than he used to, particularly in practice.
To me, he appears to be "over- driving" the car,and the in- car shots show a driver who looks to be outside his comfort zone. Skaife's career history tells the story of a driver who was always in the right car at the right time. Is it a case of this making him seem better than he is?
Or is it simply a case of a high work load, and too many team distractions in his role of "team owner"?
Certainly, if I were paying his salary, I would be starting to ask questions about value for money.

I would be inclined to agree with option 2. He may have taken on too much with the ownership and running of the team. He nearly had the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 in his grasp and, for the want of a couple of litres of fuel, would have won. I did not agree with his exit from the pits mid race where he ducked to the inside of the circuit which resulted in contact with another car in turn 1 but nothing was said so it is sour grapes on my behalf.

The HRT has always been the benchmark for all other teams and it appears that all teams have closed the gap. This just means Skaife has to push harder and is now making the mistakes that everone else has been making while trying to get to HRT's level.

No its not sour grapes, it is exactly the sort of incident that prompts me to raise these questions. There is a high possibility that caused the splitter problems which hurt him in the latter stages, and may have also affected his fuel usage. Certainly, with 30 laps to go the team felt he had enough fuel, then the splitter started to delaminate, and he was suddenly two laps shy.

Not that I'm a huge Skaife fan but, come Bathurst, the cream will rise to the top and that cream will include Skaife. He and his team have the ability to be fast all day and be there at the end. The teams to shine in October will be HRT, HSV, Stone Bros, SuperCheap, DJR (they always go well here) and Team Betta.

cmlean wrote:Not that I'm a huge Skaife fan but, come Bathurst, the cream will rise to the top and that cream will include Skaife. He and his team have the ability to be fast all day and be there at the end. The teams to shine in October will be HRT, HSV, Stone Bros, SuperCheap, DJR (they always go well here) and Team Betta.

I would be reluctant to leave the Bowe/Jones combo out of any picks for the top 10 finishers. DJR has Seton, do you think he will overcome the "Mountain Hoodoo"?

In a race of this distance, it is difficult to leave out anyone. To use the old addage, to finish first you must first finsh. This year, these teams have always made it to the end of the race (someone will prove me wrong on this point). The move by Team Betta to use SBR engines this year has improved their chances of winning Bathurst immensely.

cmlean wrote:In a race of this distance, it is difficult to leave out anyone. To use the old addage, to finish first you must first finsh. This year, these teams have always made it to the end of the race (someone will prove me wrong on this point). The move by Team Betta to use SBR engines this year has improved their chances of winning Bathurst immensely.

I now rate the Lowndes/ Muller Ford as the car to beat. BUT I have this little voice in the back of my brain cavity, which says the car that wins Sandown has never won at The Mountain. I have no idea whether this is correct or not.

Nah Murph will somehow win it. I wont go for him, but he will win in the end. Don't know how he does it.

I would like to see Lowndsey up there more though.

rah wrote:Nah Murph will somehow win it. I wont go for him, but he will win in the end. Don't know how he does it.

I would like to see Lowndsey up there more though.

Rah, if you go to the mountain for the thursday & friday sessions, you can watch Murphy dial himself in. The guy just gets smoother and smoother. You suddenly realise he is braking later than anyone else, the car is better balanced, and there is just less fuss.

Coming back to the topic of the thread, perhaps not yet

Lets watch the last three races, I don't reckon he will win another round. He had a very uneventful race. But that is the mountain. The next races will be hard for him.

[quote="rah"]Lets watch the last three races, I don't reckon he will win another round. He had a very uneventful race. But that is the mountain. The next races will be hard for him.[/quote

This is very much my personal opinion. I believe that the car was set up solelyfor Skaife, without compromise for Tod Kelly. I believe that, because Tod could not match Skaifes times in the car, and was suffering symptoms of physical discomfort (as noted by Neil Crompton) each time he exited the vehicle after a stint.
Tod has usually been easily as quick as Skaife, in his own car, throughout the season.

In ten of the 13 rounds Skaife had body contact or spins during the races.
in two others he hit the wall in the lead up (including Bathurst)
He was pinged once for a jump start.
This for a fella who has in the past had 29 wins and 4 titles in Supercars.

To get out of a round without contact would be extremely lucky. Especially if you don't start on the front row.

cmlean wrote:To get out of a round without contact would be extremely lucky. Especially if you don't start on the front row.

Russel Ingall had contact with how many ?
Lowndes ?
Garth Tander ?
Steven Richards ?
Skaifey's team-mate ?