Mark was born in Hobart on April 7, 1964, and has built one of the most remarkable careers in Australian motorsport, first as an accomplished racing driver and later as one of the country’s most respected engineers, engine builders and software engine mapping tuners.

He began his racing career in 1982 in a Trowbridge Formula Vee, claiming the Tasmanian Formula Vee Championship and earning pole position at the hotly contested Formula Vee Nationals final the following year at Baskerville.

Progressing to Formula 2, with the support of Don Elliott, Tony Edmondson and the Elfin factory team, Mark finished second in the Australian Formula 2 Championship in both 1986 and 1987, collecting numerous pole positions and race victories along the way.

Mark finished third in the prestigious CAMS Gold Star Award, won the inaugural Formula Holden race in 1989 driving for the Elfin team, and backed that up with second-place finishes in the 1989 and 1991 CAMS Gold Star Series.

The 1991 runner-up achievement was behind Mark Skaife, but ahead of other notable names including Mark Larkham, Paul Morris and Neil Crompton.

In 1990, Mark broadened his involvement in the sport, taking on an engine-building role with the Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra Group A Touring Car team under Frank Gardner and Ivan Tighe. He also contested the Bathurst 1000 as co-driver to former Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme.

That same year he drove the Colorbond Jaguar sports sedan owned by Mark Trenoweth, winning the Queensland Sports Sedan Championship.

In 1996, Mark commenced a full-time position preparing and running the ex-Greg Crick Honda Prelude for John Briggs, achieving pole position and victory in every round of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship.

This led to Briggs Motorsports’ introduction to V8 Supercar racing the following year and the inaugural involvement of Supercheap Auto with a car fully built and constructed by a small team led by Mark.

In 2000, Mark established Power Torque, a business dedicated to race car engineering and engine building, which would go on to achieve extraordinary success. The company has since claimed 22 national championships, including the inaugural Konica V8 Series with Dean Canto, and multiple sports sedan championships including wins for Tasmanians and fellow Hall of Fame inductees Kerry Bailey and Greg Crick.

Power Torque’s reach has extended to some of the biggest names in Supercars, supplying engines, engineering and tuning expertise to Ford Tickford, Holden Young Lions/Romano Racing, Supercheap Auto Racing, PWR, Tony Longhurst Racing, Team Komatsu, VIP Pet Foods/McLean Motorsport and a host of leading privateer teams.

Mark returned to endurance racing in 1995, co-driving with Kevin Waldock and finishing in the top 10 outright at both Sandown and Bathurst. Beyond circuit racing, his engine-building expertise translated to off-road and offshore competition, with Power Torque achieving 15 Finke Desert Race Class 7 victories, 14 Australian Off Road Class 7 championships, an Australian Offshore Powerboat title as engine tuner, and two outright Australian Safari wins in 2010 and 2012 with Kees Weel’s LS1-powered PWR Colorado.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Mark’s engines, engineering and tuning services have powered two former world champions and a large proportion of Australia’s top racing talent, cementing a legacy that speaks for itself.

More recently, Mark was an inaugural supporter and backer of Australian Formula One driver Oscar Piastri during his junior formula racing in Europe through his Flash Diesel tuning business.

Mark remains a passionate advocate for Tasmanian motor racing at both Baskerville and Symmons Plains circuits.

Profile by Peter Killick