Widescreen Gallery: 1991 Romano SPA 001 Formula Holden

This 1991 Romano SPA raced in Australia’s Formula Holden series, with local legend Mark Skaife driving it to two Australian Drivers’ Championships. Let’s take a look around.

Running from 1989 to 2004, Formula Holden was Australia’s headline open wheel racing category of the time. It awarded the CAMS Gold Star and was the battleground upon which the Australian Drivers’ Championship was contested.

This car, Romano SPA 001 from 1991, was a young Mark Skaife’s ride at the time. He drove it to two of his three consecutive Australian Drivers’ titles between 1991 and 1993. In 1992 he held the Australian Drivers’ Championship, Bathurst 100 and Australian Touring Car titles in the same year – the first and only driver to do so – and he was driving this car when he clinched the 1992 Formula Brabbham championship to complete the trifecta.

We see it here driven by Ben Tebbutt at the 2019 HSRCA Sydney Classic. The car has been preserved in its period condition, livery and paintwork following its final in-period race at Oran Park, down to the original hand-cut decals and numbered control tyres from the fifth and final round of the 1992 series.