Skaife not finished with racing

Despite announcing yesterday that he would quit V8 Supercar endurance driving to take up his role as the sport's commission chairman, he says there are other local and international events he can compete in.

"I've had some offers to do some racing overseas and a few more offers have come in since Bathurst to race locally," he said. "At this point I haven't made my mind up and don't have to until after Christmas."

The rules of the V8 Supercars Commission state the chairman must be independent to any individual team. Skaifes' initial term is two years. While he won't be able to compete in the V8 series, he says there is no conflict with the chairman's position and other racing categories.

"I can't say what just yet, but there are a couple of overseas opportunities plus some local stuff. I wouldn't mind doing that so long as it's not too taxing and it wouldn't take too much of my time.

Clearly as an absolutely outright professional race driver those days are gone. What I'd like to do though is pick the eyes out of the events which suit and then I'll contemplate how that works. Meanwhile, I'll continue to get my head down and attack the commission role with 100 per cent effort and then see what the rest of the world looks like as the year closes down."

Skaife announced his retirement from full-time racing in 2008 and returned to race the endurance rounds at Phillip Island and Bathurst with Greg Murphy the following year. Last year he won both endurance races with Craig Lowndes and returned this year to win the Phillip Island race and finish second with Lowndes at Bathurst.

Lowndes said Skaife rang him late last week and told him of his decision. "I was sort of thinking he would go that way," he said. We've always had this joke that the longer we stuck together the harder it was for me to catch his Bathurst record. Seriously, as a driver, he realised it's getting tougher every year to compete when you are not a full-time driver. He has to look at what's best for his family."

Skaife was scheduled to announce his decision at a press conference yesterday but instead issued a press release in deference to the death of Indy Car driver Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.

"I've never seen a crash as wild as that," Skaife said. "My decision obviously pre-dates that incident and certainly wasn't based on safety. It's a very sad day for motorsport and for a guy who recently won the Indy 500 and was scheduled to join us at the Gold Coast 600 this weekend. I'm just blown away by the incident."

MARK SKAIFE BIOGRAPHY

Born: April 3, 1967 in Gosford
Racing: Started in karts in 1980s and moved to cars in 1984, joining then Australian Touring Car Championships in 1987. Retired from full-time racing in 2008.
Career: 5 touring car championships; 6 Bathurst wins; 220 races; 41 round wins; 87 podium finishes; 88 race wins; 41 pole positions
Awards: 2004 Medal of the Order of Australia.