Date of Birth: 20.05.1981

Birthplace: Camperdown Sydney, NSW

Marital Status: Wife, Renee

Height: 180cm

Weight: 72kg

Children: None

Nickname: Frosty

Interests: Golf, mountain biking, football, eating out, Playstation

Personal Vehicle: Ford XR8

BIO

Competitive from a young age, Mark was a talented soccer star for Blacktown United before winning the local shopping centre raffle for a dirt bike, launching him into 80cc motorbike racing.

Competing against the likes of Australian Supercross Champion Chad Reed, motorsport came naturally to the eight-year-old whose dad Jim won two national sprint car titles and mum June raced in the Minis Group C category.

His subsequent meteoric karting career culminated in an invitation to race in the 1999 All-Champions meeting at Suzuka, Japan, where Mark competed against drivers including Lewis Hamilton.

KARTING HIGHLIGHTS

- Ten Australian Kart Championship titles including the 2001 Australian Formula A Kart Championship (Rotax 125cc Class)
- 25 State Kart Championships

Mark's karting dominance caught the attention of Ford Australia, who backed him to enter the Victorian Formula Ford Championship in 2001.

He astonished onlookers by finishing runner-up in his debut car racing season, despite missing a round, which earned him the Ford Kart Stars Scholarship and its accompanying Ford sponsorship for the 2002 (National) Australian Formula Ford Championship.

FORMULA FORD HIGHLIGHTS

- 2001 Victorian Formula Ford Championship runner-up (four race wins)
- 2002 Australian Formula Ford Championship runner-up (two round victories, five race wins and two pole positions)
- 2002 Avon Formula Ford Rookie of the Year Award

Mark's attention-grabbing performances earned him a Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) V8 Supercar test aged just 21. That led to a full-time drive in the 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Championship.

No one could have predicted his success, with a near perfect record of pole positions and race wins delivering him the title in his debut year. SBR enlisted him as an enduro driver for the main game and Mark made his V8 Supercar Championship Series debut at the Sandown 500 event, finishing 11th.

V8 SUPERCAR HIGHLIGHTS

- 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Series Champion (five round victories and six pole positions)
- 2003 Mike Kable V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year Award
- 2004-2005 V8 Supercar Championships (Larkham Motor Sport)

Mark signed with FPR in 2006 and has earned his renewed three-year FPR contract with the team after a stellar performance from year one, when he finished third overall.

Last year he was runner-up, with three pole positions, six round podiums and seven race wins.