Skaife: It was a racing incident.

Mark Skaife insists that his coming together with Mark Winterbottom was a racing incident after the pair clashed on the final lap of the first race for the V8 Supercar Challenge at Surfers Paradise.

Skaife was running 14th ahead of Winterbottom on the final lap of the 27-lap encounter when he made contact with the wall just two corners from home. It was an incident that left FPR team principal Tim Edwards to reflect on that fact that 'somebody of Skaife's experience should know better than to make an error like that' - although Skaife himself said it was one of those things.

"The car was never well balanced as a result of yesterday's Rick Kelly collision and it was a struggle all day," he said. "I ran a touch wide and Winterbottom attempted a pass. We clipped each other and I came home with a broken shock absorber. It's what's called a racing incident."

Todd Kelly meanwhile capped a tough day for the Holden factory team with a retirement while running inside the top ten after damaging the steering on the #22 Commodore.

"I hit a kerb late in the race the same as I had done each lap before, but it bent the steering so I needed to cruise to finish seventh," he said. "The pace picked up and I was protecting my position when the steering packed it in and the car wouldn't turn. Then I wore a tyre wall and that was it."