Wanneroo Raceway holds a special place in Mark Skaife’s career, it’s the venue where he achieved his first Australian Touring Car Championship victory.
Using the mighty GT-R he spearheaded the development on, Skaife greeted the chequered flag just ahead of teammate and mentor Jim Richards marking a changing of the guard.
Skaife’s journey at Nissan started as a junior driver arriving in December 1986 where he worked as a go-for with no promise of driving a race car.
The connection between Skaife and Nissan was made by close family friend Glenn Seton, with his father Bo building the engines for the competitive DR30 Skylines.
Although there was no guarantee of a drive, Skaife travelled from Wyong to Melbourne and took up the opportunity to be part of a highly professional, manufacturer backed team.
Led by Fred Gibson, who had watched Skaife compete in the one-make Ford Laser Series, the Nissan Motorsport squad was moving forward at a vast rate in Group A as George Fury narrowly lost the title in 1986 and Seton the next season.
While Seton and Fury did the winning in the DR30s, Skaife was also scoring victories in the Under 2.0-Litre Gazelle in which he secured his first national title.
A rise in the ranks came in 1989 when Seton left the team to go out on his own and Nissan recruited Richards to act as mentor to Skaife.
This partnership led to great success for the team into the the next decade.
For 1990, while Richards used the HR31 GTS-R to do the majority of winning towards a third ATCC title, Skaife was entrusted to lead the development of the new GT-R.
A four-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steer, twin-turbo beast, the GT-R was a tough package to get a handle of, but throughout 1990 it was Skaife doing the development work to enable Richards to use it to win the final two rounds to seal the title.
Although Bathurst didn’t go to plan, a warning shot had been sent by the GT-Rs performance and 1991 was going to be a season of domination.
Richards won the first two rounds at Sandown and Symmons Plains, before the touring car circus travelled across the Nullarbor to Wanneroo Raceway for the third event.
Dick Johnson was on pole, but was on soft compound tyres in the hopes of building a significant lead ahead of Skaife after a flying start around the outside elevated him to second.
Johnson’s strategy didn’t work and a problem arose with his Shell Sierra forcing it to the pits as Skaife took the lead.
The work didn’t end there for Skaife as Richards was piling on the pressure for the race’s duration, but it was the younger driver taking his maiden victory.
Although Richards went onto secure the 1991 crown, Skaife from then on outperformed his more experienced teammate until the loss of cigarette sponsorship led to his mentor’s departure.
Skaife won the title in 1992 and again in 1994 after Gibson Motorsport went to Holden as part of the new V8 formula.
Becoming a Holden hero by winning three more titles and four more Bathurst 1000s with the brand ensured Skaife entered the top echelon of the sport.