On this day 20 years ago: Skaife gives Kelly perfect birthday gift
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 9 October 2025
It has already been two decades since the infamous Bathurst 1000 when Mark Skaife gave Todd Kelly the perfect birthday present, but two other drivers stole the headlines on this day in 2005.
Marcos Ambrose and Greg Murphy had their memorable war of words after tangling and causing a traffic jam at The Cutting.
The Holden and Ford arch rivals were fighting their way through the pack until their campaigns ended in tears on Lap 144.
Both stars had been fighting for the lead, but Murphy, through an extra fuel stop and Ambrose, following a black flag for the infamous balaclava incident, were on the back foot in the closing stages, but still held ambitions of a podium.
On the Lap 144 restart, an error from Murphy at Griffins allowed Ambrose to get a run coming up to the left-hander, but the territorial dispute predictively led to contact.
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Suddenly, the #1 Pirkek Falcon was spun and climbed the outside barrier, which caused chaos as car after car piled into each other, leading Niel Crompton to cry “the track is jammed, the track is jammed.”
The pair, who already had a history dating back to a fiery spat at Surfers Paradise the year before, then had a heated verbal exchange on the track, getting in each other’s faces.
“What do I say? A Safety Car fell for us late in the race and I had a chance for a podium at least.
“Murphy made a mistake and I had the momentum. He had a chance to avoid the accident, but did not.
“It destroyed our race and maybe my championship as well.”
According to reports, Murphy was believed to have said to Ambrose “everyone cannot wait for you to go to America and why don’t you f**k off now?”
Post race he carried on the theme.
“I don’t want to put up with him anymore,” Murphy said.
“He can bugger off and leave. I wont be crying about it.
“He always thinks he is in the right and we should all give way to him, but that is not the case.
“He has an ego problem.”
Earlier in the day, pole sitter Craig Lowndes was wiped out by a flying wheel from Paul Dumbrell, which turned the #888 Falcon into a Betta Electrical fridge.
As a result, the only survivor from the early leading pack was the #2 HRT Commodore.
But not everything went to plan as likable Kiwi Jason Richards and a rising star called Jamie Whincup almost pulled off an underdog win for the ages with Tasman Motorsport.
Following Whincup’s strong final stint, Richards found himself in the lead and a fairytale looked possible as the roles of the 2003 Sandown 500 were reversed.
This time it was Skaife doing the chasing and he pounced at The Chase, diving down the inside seconds before the defining Safety Car period that led to that Murphy and Ambrose restart chaos was called.
Skaife used his experience to remain composed in the run home and pulled away from Richards to give Todd a perfect birthday present and a hat-trick for the Kelly gang, being Holden’s seventh straight.
Steve Ellery and Adam Macrow survived the chaos to give Triple Eight a maiden Great Race podium.
Photo: Mark Horsburgh/LAT Photographic
2005 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Pos Drivers Team Car Margin
1 Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly HRT Holden VZ Commodore 6:37.17.0012
2 Jason Richards/Jamie Whincup Tasman Motorsport Holden VZ Commodore +2.4877
3 Steven Ellery/Adam Macrow Triple Eight Ford BA Falcon +15.8041
4 Cameron McConville/Andrew Jones GRM Holden VZ Commodore +19.5755
5 Russell Ingall/Lyke Youlden SBR Ford BA Falcon +21.7574
6 Owen Kelly/Nathan Pretty Paul Weel Racing Holden VZ Commodore +51.0579
7 John Cleland/Dalee Breede BJR Ford BA Falcon +2 Laps
8 Craig Baird/David Besnard WPS Racing Ford BA Falcon +3 Laps
9 Glenn Seton/Dean Canto DJR Ford BA Falcon +3 Laps
10 John Faulkner/Alan Gurr Team Kiwi Holden VZ Commodore +3 Laps
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