• Skaife gets recalled to the race ranks.
• There is a chance that Skaife may join the Sprint Gas team for the V8 Supercar enduros.
• Apart from the Sprint Gas car, he also has private test sessions booked with another Holden team

Mark Skaife may have quit fulltime race driving but that won’t keep him off the tracks.

Mark Skaife's retirement has lasted just 145 days.

At 12.30pm today he will become a V8 Supercar racer again when he straps into Greg Murphy's Sprint Gas Commodore at Winton.

This is not just a private fun run, because Skaife will hit the track with 29 other drivers in official practice for the latest leg of the

V8 Supercar championship and he will be on it.

"I will have my race face on. That's the way I do things," Skaife told the Herald Sun yesterday.

"I only know one way to drive in a racecar. I'll be at 100 per cent, giving it everything."

"I've been asked to give the team my feedback on their car and that's what I'm out there to do. It's serious stuff."

Skaife was recalled to the race ranks by his former boss at the Holden Racing Team, Jeff Grech.

There is a chance that he could also join the Sprint Gas team for the V8 Supercar enduros at Phillip Island and Bathurst later this year, although he has approaches from a number of other teams including Kelly Racing.

"I always said I was only retiring from fulltime race driving. Not all race driving," Skaife said.

"I was never going to be able to go cold turkey on this."

Skaife is now making his name as a Channel 7 commentator, providing his own insights on the V8 Supercar action, and is also working on projects including a radio program and a lifestyle television show.

But he has not given up his fitness or his commitment to racing.

"I think I could still do a pretty sharp job at Bathurst for the next three or four years. I'm still working with my trainer and doing 2 or

3 runs a week. I'm about 25 per cent off my maximum fitness level," he said.

Skaife will not discuss his race offers, but could clearly drive for any of the leading Holden teams in the enduros. And he has also had approaches from the Ford side of the V8 Supercar divide.

Apart from the Sprint Gas car, he also has private test sessions booked with another Holden team and with Stone Brothers Racing on the Gold Coast.

"I'm looking forward to the driving. I've seen a lot more cars since I stopped racing fulltime than I ever did when I had my Holden Racing Team blinkers on. And it's fair to say that I've been surprised by a few things," Skaife said.

He is taking things seriously enough to create a set of Skaife Racing overalls, splashed with his own personal sponsors, as well as a new helmet, boots and gloves. And that's what he will be wearing when he straps into Murphy's car.

"My old boss Jeff Grech from HRT called me and asked me to have a drive. They want to get a bit of feedback on the car and what it might need," Skaife said.

"I'll be giving it everything I can. Testing and developing a car is something that I've always enjoyed.

"You can bet that I'll be hanging around once I get out of the car, to see if I have made an improvement and how Murf feels about the feedback and any changes I've made during my session."