2003 V8 Supercar season

The 2003 V8 Supercar season was the 44th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500.

There were 21 touring car race meetings held during 2003; a thirteen-round series for V8 Supercars, the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series (VCS), two of them endurance races; a six-round second tier V8 Supercar series 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Series (KVS) along with a non-point scoring race supporting the Bathurst 1000 and V8 Supercar support programme event at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix.

Season review

The 2003 season brought substantial change at the pointy end of the series, with the era of the Holden Racing Teams dominance of V8 Supercar ending and the era of Stone Brothers Racing beginning. Marcos Ambrose form throughout the series was irresistible. From the series third round at Eastern Creek Raceway to the eighth round at Oran Park Raceway SBR Falcons took all six wins, Ambrose five of them with a second place behind Ingall at Queensland Raceway the only aberration. Ingall would win again in the Gold Coast street race with Ambrose confirming his championship at the Eastern Creek championship finale. Holden did not give in willingly, Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy each winning two rounds, with Skaife and Todd Kelly taking the reborn Sandown 500 as one of them, while one of Murphy's wins was Bathurst with his co-driver Rick Kelly becoming the youngest Bathurst winner. The only other round winner was Craig Lowndes had his first win for new team Ford Performance Racing.

Apart from the enduros, Stone Brothers Racing swept all before them with Mark Winterbottom dominating the Konica V8 Supercar Series in SBR's older AU Falcon. Winterbottom won four of the six rounds, the others were won by Andrew Jones and eventual series runner up Matthew White.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 2003 Australian touring car season consisted of 20 events.

Date Series Circuit City / state Winner Team Car Report
23 Feb KVS Round 1 Wakefield Park Goulburn, New South Wales Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
7–8 Mar Netspace V8Supercar Showdown Albert Park street circuit Melbourne, Victoria Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon report
18–22 Mar KVS Round 2 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
Clipsal 500 VCS Round 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
13 Apr VCS Round 2 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon
3–4 May KVS Round 3 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
VCS Round 3 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
25 May VCS Round 4 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
7–8 Jun VB 400 VCS Round 5 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
28 Jun VCS Round 6 Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
6 Jul KVS Round 4 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden VT Commodore
19–20 Jul VCS Round 7 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
3 Aug KVS Round 5 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford AU Falcon
16–17 Aug VCS Round 8 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
31 Aug KVS Round 6 Mallala Motor Sport Park Adelaide, South Australia Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
12–13 Sep Betta Electrical 500 VCS Round 9 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Mark Skaife
Todd Kelly		 Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore report
11–12 Oct Konica V8 Supercar Challenge Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon report
Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 VCS Round 10 Greg Murphy
Rick Kelly		 K-Mart Racing Team Holden VY Commodore report
25–26 Oct Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge VCS Round 11 Surfers Paradise street circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
8–9 Nov Placemakers V8 International VCS Round 12 Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, New Zealand Greg Murphy K-Mart Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
29–30 Nov VIP Pet Foods Main Event VCS Round 13 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon

Netspace V8Supercar Showdown

This meeting was a support event of the 2003 Australian Grand Prix.

Driver No. Team Car Race 1 Race 2
Australia Russell Ingall 9 Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon 2 1
New Zealand Steven Richards 11 Castrol Perkins Racing Holden VX Commodore 3 2
Australia Jason Bright 50 Paul Weel Racing Holden VX Commodore 1 3
Australia Jason Bargwanna 20 Larkham Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon 5 4
Australia John Bowe 88 Brad Jones Racing Ford BA Falcon 6 5
Australia Steven Johnson 17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon 9 6
Australia Craig Lowndes 6 Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon 7 7
New Zealand Greg Murphy 51 K-Mart Racing Team Holden VX Commodore 4 8
Australia Dean Canto 66 Briggs Motor Sport Ford BA Falcon 11 9
Australia David Besnard 19 Ford Performance Racing Ford AU Falcon 10 10
Australia Paul Dumbrell 8 Castrol Perkins Racing Holden VX Commodore 14 11
Australia Rodney Forbes 7 Gibson Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon 15 12
Brazil Max Wilson 18 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon 24 13
Australia Rick Kelly 15 K-Mart Racing Team Holden VX Commodore 13 14
Australia Paul Morris 29 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VY Commodore 16 15
New Zealand Paul Radisich 65 Briggs Motor Sport Ford BA Falcon DNF 16
Australia Glenn Seton 5 Ford Performance Racing Ford AU Falcon 17 17
Australia Mark Skaife 1 Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore DNF 18
Australia Cameron McConville 3 Lansvale Racing Team Holden VX Commodore 20 19
Australia Mark Larkham 10 Larkham Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon 22 20
Australia Greg Ritter 00 Gibson Motor Sport Ford BA Falcon 21 21
Australia Brad Jones 21 Brad Jones Racing Ford BA Falcon 12 22
New Zealand Jason Richards 45 Team Dynamik Holden VY Commodore 23 DNF
New Zealand Simon Wills 44 Team Dynamik Holden VY Commodore 25 DNF
Australia Anthony Tratt 75 Paul Little Racing Ford AU Falcon 27 DNF
Australia Jamie Whincup 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VX Commodore 19 DNF
Australia Marcos Ambrose 4 Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon 18 DNF
New Zealand Craig Baird 69 Team Kiwi Racing Holden VX Commodore 26 DNF
Australia Steve Ellery 31 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford BA Falcon 8 DNS
Australia Todd Kelly 2 Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore DNF DNS
Australia Garth Tander 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VY Commodore DNF DNS
Australia Paul Weel 16 Paul Weel Racing Holden VX Commodore DNF DNS

V8 Supercar Championship Series
Main article: 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series

Konica V8 Supercar Series
Main article: 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Series

Konica V8 Supercar Challenge Race

This race was a support event of the 2003 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000.[1]

Driver No. Team Car Grid Race
Australia Mark Winterbottom 41 Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon Pole 1
Australia Warren Luff 71 Dick Johnson Racing Ford AU Falcon 2 2
Australia Matthew White 28 Matthew White Racing Ford AU Falcon 4 3
New Zealand Mark Porter 64 Independent Race Cars Australia Holden VX Commodore 6 4
Australia Adam Wallis 88 Halliday Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon 7 5
Australia Tony D'Alberto 96 Holden Young Lions Holden VX Commodore 8 6
Australia Kevin Mundy 89 Kevin Mundy Racing Ford AU Falcon 5 7
Australia Grant Elliott 98 Sydney Star Racing Holden VS Commodore 10 8
Australia Mark Howard 37 Howard Racing Ford AU Falcon 9 9
Australia Ben Eggleston 38 Eggleston Motorsport Holden VX Commodore 11 10
Australia Derek van Zelm 58 Motorsport Engineering Services Holden VT Commodore 19 11
Australia Steve Voight 100 Thexton Motor Racing Ford EL Falcon 13 12
Australia Tim Gordon 49 Howard Racing Ford AU Falcon 16 13
New Zealand David Thexton 40 Thexton Motor Racing Ford AU Falcon 17 14
Australia Peter Best 90 Allied Chemical Cleaning Holden VS Commodore 21 15
Australia Phill Foster 42 Beikoff Racing Holden VS Commodore 22 16
Australia Ray Ayton 87 Unibrite Property Group Ford EL Falcon 24 17
Australia Tim Rowse 300 ANT Racing Holden VS Commodore 15 18
Australia Clyde Lawrence 35 Clyde Lawrence Racing Holden VS Commodore 20 DNF
Australia John Henderson 666 NMS Racing Ford EL Falcon 14 DNF
Australia Richard Mork 77 V8 Racing Holden VS Commodore 18 DNF
Australia Owen Kelly 22 Paul Cruikshank Racing Ford AU Falcon 3 DNF
Australia Shane Beikoff 68 Beikoff Racing Ford EL Falcon 12 DNS
Australia Milton Seferis 14 Imrie Motor Sport Holden VX Commodore 23 DNS
Australia Garry Willmington 110 Willmington Performance Ford EL Falcon 25 DNS

References
  1. "Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 - Round 10 2003 V8 Supercar Series Mount Panorama - Bathurst Konica V8 Supercars - Race". National Software. 11 October 2003. Archived from the original on 31 March 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2009.

Additional references can be found in linked event/series reports.

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