The 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship started in the worst way for the reigning champion Mark Skaife.
After a dramatic incident during testing for the Winfield Triple Challenge at Eastern Creek left him with severe injuries, Skaife faced these demons and won at the circuit four months later.
In very treacherous conditions Skaife was testing Gibson Motorsport’s new VR Commodore ahead of the pre-season Winfield Triple Challenge meeting at Eastern Creek also encompassing bikes and drag racing, in addition to the touring cars.
Skaife lost control at the fast Turn 1 where the Commodore ended up on top of a concrete barrier hitting the rear first. Skaife was unconscious and suffered severe injuries as rescue crews were forced to cut him from the tangled mess.
Although returning to testing just 13 days after the incident at Calder Park, Skaife missed the opening round of the ATCC at Sandown due to concerns surrounding his ribs and chest.
Talking to Channel Seven’s Andy Raymond, Skaife revealed how his recovery was going ahead of his comeback.
“I feel ok, I’m still a bit sore obviously and I have a bit of rib cage cartilage damage,” said Skaife.
“I did some laps around Calder Park the other day and it was pretty painful.
“I’ve just got to have a few more things done to see what sort of recuperation things we can do in terms of hurrying some things along. In terms of the forces and bumps in the car, those are the things we’re trying to compensate for.”
Making his return at Symmons Plains, Skaife eased himself back into competition to score points in the final race of the weekend.
Finishing second at the Mount Panorama sprint round was followed by mixed results at Phillip Island, Lakeside and Winton leading up to his return to Eastern Creek.
It proved a successful return as Skaife qualified sixth in the lead Winfield Racing VR Commodore and moved forward to third in the opening heat won by Peter Jackson Racing’s Glenn Seton.
Finishing second the Holden Racing Team’s Peter Brock, who won the round the previous year.
Heat 2 started well for Skaife as he split the two Peter Jackson Falcons off the start as Brock dropped back from his front row start. Disaster struck for leader Seton as he broke his gear lever as Skaife inherited a lead he didn’t give up to complete a story of redemption.
Gibson Motorsport didn’t have a strong season as this was the team’s only round win of the season and Skaife finished sixth in his title defence.
The loss of tobacco sponsorship hurt the team in 1996 as Sega came onboard as sponsor, but the Japanese console manufacturer didn’t continue for 1997 leaving the squad to complete a partial season before Skaife joined the Holden Racing Team ahead of the endurance events.
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