Mark Skaife calls time on stellar career

EARLIER this year, Mark Skaife found himself gazing into the mirror - and the 41-year-old didn't like what he was looking at.

"Because it wasn't the Mark Skaife I knew," he said, choking back tears yesterday. "Not the driver I knew I could be."

So it was then he began wrestling with the hardest decision of his record-breaking 21-year career. The decision every athlete dreads.

"I new it was time to retire," the five-time Bathurst champion said. "When you're so close to the threshold, driving that car well, it all happens slowly.

"It's something that is really enjoyable. It's easy when you're doing it well. But I found this year, there were times when it felt like that, and others when it didn't.

"To be perfectly honest, that's when you have to have a look at yourself. And I had a look in the mirror and I wasn't at my best."

On Sunday, Australia's most successful touring car driver will say goodbye to all the burnt rubber, bent panels and the rush of hitting 300km/h on a long straight.

And Skaife knows nothing can prepare him for his final lap.

"It will be very emotional," he said. "All my family will be there.

"I don't want to think about it too much yet."

Already, it has been an emotional week for the Holden legend.

On Monday, he lost his Holden Racing Team to Tom Walkinshaw after The Daily Telegraph revealed his $3.6 million debt. And he admits he may have continued had it not been for the stress of owning and running a race team.

"All that was a factor," Skaife said. "It's a lot to take on."

But Skaife's journey will go on.

"I love it too much," he said.

"I'll still be involved. I want to help improve the profile of the sport because it's a sport I love."

And fittingly, his driving career will end on Sunday at the place where it all began.

"I used to come to Oran Park and sit on my dad's shoulders on the dog leg watching the races," Skaife said. "So it'll be an appropriate way to finish up."