Skaife awarded Order of Australia medal.

Holden Racing Team owner and multi championship winning racing car driver Mark Skaife has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the Australia Day awards.

Skaife's OAM is for services to motor sport and the community. Skaife - who is currently on holidays overseas during the V8 Supercar "off" season, says the Order of Australia Medal award came as a complete surprise.

"When you see the list of well known Australians that have been awarded OAM's, it is a great honour to be part of that group and at the same time, a very humbling experience.

"When you start out on your chosen career path, you are just trying to establish yourself and attain some degree of success so, awards and recognition of this nature is the last thing on your mind!

"It's a great accolade and I'm proud to think that what I've achieved career-wise has allowed me to be in a position to put something back into the community - as we have with some of our charitable activities." Skaife said.

Mark Skaife has been one of the most successful drivers in Australian domestic motor sport, with 5 Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar championships since 1992, 4 victories at the annual Bathurst 1000 event and a number of other titles in various categories.

In recent years he has been behind a successful charity golf day on the NSW Central Coast that has resulted in healthy contributions to hospitals in the area as well as supporting the Ronald McDonald House program in Newcastle and Sydney.

Skaife is originally from Gosford on the NSW Central Coast and felt this was an ideal way to put something back into the community that assisted him when his career began.