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Mark Skaife: How clear skies could change the Bathurst 1000
Savannah Lendich Jonkers • October 9th, 2026 9:55 am
Matt Payne & Garth Tander | Photo: Clay Cross/Photosport
The Bathurst 1000 is shaping as a very different challenge to last year’s rain-soaked, fog-hit race, with clearer weather expected to put the focus back on outright speed and a late-race sprint.
Six-time Bathurst champion and commentator Mark Skaife said genuine pace would be crucial if this year’s race is decided in the closing stages.
“To be honest I always look for absolute genuine speed first,” he told Sport Nation Mornings.
The wild finish in 2025 featured young drivers, who most didn’t expect to be genuine contenders Cooper Murray and James Golding.
Murray was leading late when Golding made contact with him, sending him into a half-spin.
Golding went on to cross the finish line first, but a five-second penalty for the incident dropped him to third before Kiwi Matt Payne was awarded the victory.
“Last year's race in the rain, obviously, no one would have foreseen how mad and how wild that was, and some of the young blokes just did an extraordinary job. So they were people out of left field that were involved in what was one of the most epic finishes we've ever seen.”
With clearer weather expected this year, Skaife believes the race may turn into a more conventional test of speed and pure endurance.
“Because Bathurst has become a big long sprint race, the actual rationale behind winning the race has changed over the years. If you think way back in Brock and Moffat days, you had to nurse the cars home, but these days you basically drive the cars at 100 per cent most of the day.
“Now when you think about that and you think about the last hour and a half of the race, you've actually got to be the fastest car when it matters.”
Brodie Kostecki | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
And Skaife doesn’t believe there will be any surprise winners despite the big pool of genuine contenders.
“For me, Matt Payne, Brodie Kostecki, Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert, Brock Feeney, those sorts of guys will be very hard to beat if it comes down to a genuine sprint at the end.”
The first task, he said, is to stay in contention until the closing stages.
“You have to buy a ticket to that last hour and a half. You have to be in contention, where the leaders are or maybe you are the leader and then you basically are able to sprint to the end.
“That's fundamentally the course of how this race is won and lost and minimising the mistakes throughout a course of 161 laps is very hard.”
Listen to the full interview below:
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