Over the 50 years of the Australian Touring Car Championship, now known as the V8 Supercar Championship Series, there have been 716 individual races. Some people like to look at total wins of each individual race instead of determining how many times a specific driver won the overall Championship. However, the winner of the most rounds for the entire life of the Championship events is also tied for winning the most Championship titles.
Who is Mark Skaife?
Mark Skaife has the most V8 Supercar Race wins overall. In all his years of racing in this Supercar style, Skaife has won a breathtaking 87 races. His closest competition is still 16 wins behind him with a total of 71. He has retired from full time supercar racing, but continues to race in all of the endurance events of the championship. In 2010, he teamed up with Craig Lowndes to win the Phillip Island endurance race. He is currently the co-presenter on Seven Sport’s coverage of V8 Supercar races and also co-hosts on V8 Xtra.
The Closest Competition
Skaif’s closest competition for the most V8 Supercar race wins is Craig Lowndes who currently drives for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside recent Championship winner Jamie Whincup. Lowndes has won a striking 71 races during his time racing in the V8 Championships. The third place winner is way behind him with a mere 48 race wins. These numbers set Lowndes and Skaif in an entirely different category of winning. However, as Skaif has devoted so much of his life to the series, it is no wonder he is the best.
Winning the V8 Supercar Race Championships
In addition to having the most V8 Supercar race wins, Mark Skaif has also tied with Ian Geoghegan and Dick Johnson for the most V8 Championship wins. They have each been titled Champion of the series five times. Skaif’s most recent Championship wins were in 2000 – 2003, having earned the title three years in a row. Prior to that, he won the Touring Car Series Championship in 1992 and again in 1994. He has also secured several firsts in the Australian Drivers’ Championship series as well.
Other Noteworthy Statistics
Mark Skaif also has his name in the books as the winner of the 600th race of the series. This was in Oran park in 2006 while driving a Holden Commodore VZ. In 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to motor racing and charity. In 2006, Skaife set a Guinness World Record with the fastest speed of 277.16 km/h in a production car. At the time he was driving an HSV Maloo at the Woomera Prohibited Area.
The V8 Supercar Championships are continuing to increase in popularity. As Skaif settles more into retirement, it will be interesting to note if Lowndes will catch up to his record of V8 supercar race wins, and if so, how long it will take. It seems that it would be a while for anyone else to catch up in that area, as they are all so much further behind. In any event, Skaif has added quite a bit to racing history and will always be remembered for his accomplishments.