Mark Skaife has denied reports that he is facing a financial crisis. In a statement released through his manager, former AFL footballer Craig Kelly, Mark Skaife has stated that he is not facing financial ruin.

Kelly said he was "very disappointed and angry" that such reports would be "rolled out" before the final race of Skaife's V8 Supercars career at Sydney's Oran Park this weekend.

Kelly said Skaife had made many sound commercial choices throughout his career and the motor sport champion had decided to sell his Toorak mansion last year 'for a host of reasons'.

HOLDEN has issued a recall notice for VZ-series vehicles built in 2005 and fitted with side airbags after it was discovered that the driver’s side airbag could incorrectly deploy.

It is understood that the side airbag could deploy when the car is stationary and the driver is exiting, or has exited, the vehicle.

Product Recalls Australia described the problem as the airbag attachment within the seat assembly possibly not being to specification, which could in turn allow the side airbag to become detached.

This could subsequently affect the performance of the airbag in the event of a collision.

The recall affects 8792 vehicles spanning Executive, SV6, SS, Berlina, Adventra and Crewman variants, as well as the HSV Avalanche.

Holden is writing to owners of all affected vehicles.  

An article posted in the Melbourne Age online publication, theage.com.au reports that retiring Australian motor sport champion Mark Skaife faces financial ruin, owing $3.6 million after a business deal gone bad.

The Age article goes on to say..
The Holden driver, who will compete in his final V8s race after 21 years in the sport this weekend, could lose all of the assets in his own company, Skaife Sports, because of a $3.6 million loan to Scottish racing magnate Tom Walkinshaw, News Ltd says.

The losses could include the Holden Racing Team (HRT), one of the most famous and lucrative brands in Australian sport, if he defaults on a multi-million loan.

The report said the five-times Bathurst champion and his wife and children are living in a rented flat after they were forced to sell their Toorak mansion.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission documents obtained by News Ltd showed Skaife sold the mansion about the same time he traded "debt for equity" with one of Walkinshaw's Australian firms, Real Racing.

Walkinshaw, who once owned HRT, bought half of Skaife Sport in September last year in a deal News Ltd said was struck to relieve debt the company owed to another of Walkinshaw's companies, Walkinshaw performance.

Under an agreement with Holden Motorsport, Walkinshaw Performance supplies racing services including engines, engineering and paint to HRT.

Walkinshaw denied allegations price rises from his company had forced Skaife into a financial corner, saying a sponsor had defaulted on Skaife.

You may have noticed the Performance Holden website has been off line for a couple of days. This has been due to changing the hosting of the our site. We now have a new server and will be updating the site over the next couple of days. Issue 3 of Performance Holden Magazine is now on sale at all good newsagents so check it out, we think its our best yet.

Thanks for your support,

Brendon Sheridan
Publisher
Performance Holden Magazine

The thunder will be back with a bang for the VACC Historic Sandown from November 7-9 this year, with an all-time record entry looming well ahead the official closing date of October 27.

Well over 300 entries have already been accepted for the meeting and several categories are over-subscribed or near the circuit’s grid capacity.

The arrival of 15 Formula 5000 entries from New Zealand means that up to 25 of the spectacular V8-engined open wheelers from the 1970s will now race at over the weekend.

Nearly 50 Historic Touring Cars, including, seven Torana XU-1s and two Chrysler Chargers, will shake the Sandown grandstand, while the 17 Group A and Group C touring cars entered so far include an exciting mix of Torana A9Xs, BMWs, Nissans, a Volvo and a Ford Sierra from the late 1970s and 1980s.

Just as impressive as the overall numbers already entered are the 200 competitors who already plan to practice on the Friday before the meeting, with this number expected to swell to over 250.

The 40th anniversary of the first Holden Monaro endurance race victory in the Datsun 3 Hour race at Sandown in 1968 will also be celebrated with a big Monaro display. Winning Monaro driver Bob Watson will be a guest of honour, while veteran Murray Carter will celebrate his 60th anniversary in motor racing as the meeting’s Patron.


“The interest from competitors has been unprecedented”, said the Chairman of the Victorian Historic Racing Register’s Historic Sandown committee, Noel Robson.

“This is looming up to be the biggest Historic Sandown ever and is indicative of the huge resurgence in interest in historic racing in general.”