2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series

2003 V8 Supercar

Drivers' Champion:
Marcos Ambrose
Teams' Champion:
Stone Brothers Racing
Manufacturers' Championship:
Ford

Previous

2002

Next

2004

Support series:
Konica Series

Marcos Ambrose won his first V8 Supercar Championship with Stone Brothers Racing.

Greg Murphy finished second for the second consecutive season.

Mark Skaife finished third, ending a three season long winning streak.

The 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series was a motor racing series for V8 Supercars. The series, which was the fifth V8 Supercar Championship Series, began on 22 March 2003 in Adelaide and ended on 30 November at Eastern Creek Raceway after 13 rounds. It ended with the awarding of the 44th Australian Touring Car Championship title by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to Tasmanian driver Marcos Ambrose. It was the first time a Stone Brothers Racing driver had won the championship and marked the first title win by a Ford driver since Glenn Seton in 1997, ending a five-year run by Holden Racing Team. Also, 2003 is the firat season to use 'project blueprint' regulations.

Calendar

The 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series consisted of 13 rounds which included eleven sprint rounds of one, two or three races and two longer distance endurance races requiring two drivers per car.

Rd.	Round Name, Circuit	City / state	Date
1	Clipsal 500 Adelaide, Adelaide Street Circuit	Adelaide, South Australia	20–23 March
2	Phillip Island	Phillip Island, Victoria	11–13 April
3	Eastern Creek Raceway	Eastern Creek, New South Wales	2–4 May
4	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	23–25 May
5	VB 300, Barbagallo Raceway	Perth, Western Australia	6–8 June
6	Hidden Valley Raceway	Darwin, Northern Territory	27–29 June
7	BigPond 300, Queensland Raceway	Ipswich, Queensland	18–20 July
8	Oran Park Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	15–17 August
9	Betta Electrical Sandown 500, Sandown International Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	12–14 September
10	Bob Jane T-Marts 1000, Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	9–12 October
11	Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge, Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Queensland	23–26 October
12	Placemakers V8 International, Pukekohe Park Raceway	Pukekohe, New Zealand	7–9 November
13	VIP Petfoods Main Event, Eastern Creek Raceway	Eastern Creek, New South Wales	28–30 November

Adelaide Phillip Island Eastern Creek Winton Perth Darwin Ipswich Oran Park Sandown Bathurst Gold Coast class=notpageimage| Australian rounds

Pukekohe class=notpageimage| New Zealand rounds

Teams and drivers

The following drivers and teams competed in the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The series consisted of eleven rounds of sprint racing and two rounds (the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000) of endurance racing with each car piloted by two drivers.

Manufacturer	Vehicle	Team	No.	Drivers	Events		Endurance Event Drivers
Ford	Falcon AU	Ford Performance Racing	5	Glenn Seton	1–3		—
		Rod Nash Racing (FPR)	19	David Besnard	1–6		—
		00 Motorsport	7	Rodney Forbes	1–3		—
		Larkham Motorsport	10	Mark Larkham	1–8, 11–13		—
			20	Jason Bargwanna	1–7
				Grant Johnson	9–10		Kerry Wade
		Noske Motorsport	23	Mark Noske	1–8, 11–13		—
				Neal Bates	9–10		Rick Bates
		Paul Little Racing	75	Anthony Tratt	1–7		—
		Thexton Motor Racing	99	David Thexton	1–4, 6–13		Brett Peters* Stephen Voight**
	Falcon BA	Stone Brothers Racing	4	Marcos Ambrose	All		Russell Ingall
			9	Russell Ingall	1–8, 11–13		—
				Mark Noske	9–10		Mark Winterbottom
		Ford Performance Racing	5	Glenn Seton	4–8, 11–13		—
				Darren Hossack	9–10		Adam Macrow
			6	Craig Lowndes	All		Glenn Seton
		Rod Nash Racing (FPR)	7	David Besnard	11–13		—
			19		7–10		Owen Kelly
		00 Motorsport	7	Rodney Forbes	4, 6		—
			00		5
				Greg Ritter	1–4, 6
		Larkham Motorsport	10	Mark Larkham	9–10		Jason Bargwanna
			20	Jason Bargwanna	8, 11–13		—
		Dick Johnson Racing	17	Steven Johnson	All		Warren Luff
			18	Max Wilson	All		David Brabham
		Brad Jones Racing	21	Brad Jones	All		John Bowe
			888	John Bowe	1–8, 11–13		—
				John Cleland	9–10		Andrew Jones
		Steven Ellery Racing	31	Steven Ellery	All		Luke Youlden
		Briggs Motorsport 8 Triple Eight Race Engineering 5	65	Paul Radisich	All		Rickard Rydell
			66	Dean Canto	All		Matthew White
		Paul Little Racing	75	Anthony Tratt	8–13		Paul Stokell
Holden	Commodore VX	Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia 4 (HRT) John Kelly Racing 9 (HRT)	15	Rick Kelly	1–8, 11–13		—
				Cameron McLean	9–10		Andy Priaulx
			51	Greg Murphy	1–7		—
		Lansvale Smash Repairs	3	Cameron McConville	All		Tim Leahey
		Perkins Engineering	8	Paul Dumbrell	All		Tomas Mezera
			11	Steven Richards	1–5		—
		Paul Weel Racing	16	Paul Weel	1–8, 11–13		—
				Marcus Marshall	9–10		Greg Ritter
			50	Jason Bright	All		Paul Weel
		Team Kiwi Racing	021	Craig Baird	All		Mark Porter
		Romano Racing	24	Paul Romano	1		—
		Paul Morris Motorsport	24	Wayne Wakefield	3–4, 7–8, 10		Andy McElrea
				Alan Gurr	9
		Garry Rogers Motorsport	33	Jamie Whincup	1–9, 11–12		Allan Simonsen
				Nathan Pretty	10
	Commodore VY	Holden Racing Team	1	Mark Skaife	All		Todd Kelly
			2	Todd Kelly	1–8, 11–13		—
				Jim Richards	9–10		Tony Longhurst
		John Kelly Racing (HRT)	51	Greg Murphy	8–13		Rick Kelly
		Perkins Engineering	11	Steven Richards	6–13		Larry Perkins
		Paul Morris Motorsport	29	Paul Morris	All		John Faulkner
		Garry Rogers Motorsport	33	Jamie Whincup	13		—
			34	Garth Tander	All		Nathan Pretty* Jamie Whincup**
		Team Dynamik	44	Simon Wills	All		Jason Richards
			45	Jason Richards	1–8, 11–13		—
				Nicolas Minassian	9–10		Wayne Wakefield* Jan Magnussen**
Wildcard Entries
Ford	Falcon AU	Fernández Racing	55	José Fernández	10	David Russell
		Sydney Star Racing	89	Mal Rose	10	Grant Elliott**
Holden	Commodore VX	Robert Smith Racing	13	Phillip Scifleet	9–10	Steve Owen
			72	Alan Gurr	10	Jonny Reid
		Lansvale Smash Repairs	24	David Krause	13	—
		John Faulkner Racing	46	Tony Ricciardello	9–10	Dale Brede
		Phoenix Motorsport	59	Jamie Miller	10	Ron Searle
		Robert Jones Racing	69	Robert Jones	10	Peter Doulman

* = Drove in Sandown 500 only

** = Drove in Bathurst 1000 only

Driver changes

• Jason Bright left the Holden Racing Team to join Team Brock.
• Todd Kelly left the K-Mart Racing Team to join the Holden Racing Team replacing Jason Bright.
• Rick Kelly left the Holden Young Lions to join the K-Mart Racing Team replacing his brother Todd Kelly.
• Russell Ingall left Perkins Engineering to join Stone Brothers Racing replacing David Besnard.
• David Besnard left Stone Brothers Racing to join Ford Performance Racing.
• Craig Lowndes left 00 Motorsport to join Ford Performance Racing.
• Greg Ritter returned to the Supercars Championship joining 00 Motorsport replacing Craig Lowndes.
• Larry Perkins stepped down from full-time competition. He joined Steven Richards for the Enduro Rounds.
• Mark Noske returned to the Supercars Championship joining ICS Team Ford for the Single Driver Rounds. He joined Mark Winterbottom for the Enduro Rounds. He was replaced by Professional Australian Rally Driver Neal Bates for the Enduro Rounds.
• Jason Bargwanna left Garry Rogers Motorsport to join Larkham Motorsport.
• Paul Radisich and Max Wilson effectively swapped seats, with Radisich moving to Briggs Motor Sport and Wilson to Dick Johnson Racing.
• Jason Richards left Team Kiwi Racing to join Team Dynamik.
• Craig Baird left Team Brock and replaced Jason Richards at Team Kiwi Racing.

Team changes

• Ford Performance Racing expanded to a three car team.
• Perkins Engineering scaled down to a two car team.
• Following the collapse of Tom Walkinshaw Racing in February, the Holden Racing Team and Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia entries were sold to Skaife Sports Pty Ltd and John Kelly Racing respectively. ^{[1] [2]}

Results and standings

Results summary

Round	Race	Event	Pole position	Race winners	Round winner	Report
1	R1	Adelaide	Jason Bright	Marcos Ambrose	Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team, Holden)	report
	R2			Mark Skaife
2		Phillip Island	Mark Skaife	Craig Lowndes (Ford Performance Racing, Ford)
3		Eastern Creek 1	Marcos Ambrose	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
4		Winton	Marcos Ambrose	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
5	R1	Perth	Greg Murphy	Greg Murphy	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
	R2			Mark Skaife
	R3			Marcos Ambrose
6	R1	Darwin	Mark Skaife	Mark Skaife	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
	R2			Marcos Ambrose
	R3			Marcos Ambrose
7		Ipswich	Marcos Ambrose	Russell Ingall (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
8		Oran Park	Marcos Ambrose	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
9		Sandown	Marcos Ambrose	Mark Skaife Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team, Holden)		report
10		Bathurst	Greg Murphy	Greg Murphy Rick Kelly (John Kelly Racing, Holden)		report
11	R1	Gold Coast	Todd Kelly	Russell Ingall	Russell Ingall (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
	R2			Russell Ingall
12	R1	Pukekohe	Greg Murphy	Greg Murphy	Greg Murphy (John Kelly Racing, Holden)	report
	R2			Greg Murphy
	R3			Mark Skaife
13	R1	Eastern Creek 2	Mark Skaife	Marcos Ambrose	Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing, Ford)
	R2			Marcos Ambrose

Drivers championship

Drivers were required to drop the points earned at their worst round from their total, regardless of how many rounds were entered. Drivers who only entered one round lost all their points.

Pos. Driver No. ADE PHI EAS1 WIN BAR HID QLD ORA SAN BAT SUR PUK EAS2 Pen. Pts. 1 Marcos Ambrose 4 1 Ret 17 1 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 5 6 6 4 6 23 9 1 1 0 2085 2 Greg Murphy 51 10 11 3 5 14 1 4 3 6 5 2 8 11 3 1 2 2 1 1 3 23 Ret 0 1983 3 Mark Skaife 1 2 1 6 19 6 2 1 23 1 2 3 Ret 3 1 8 3 3 7 2 1 7 Ret 105 1817 4 Jason Bright 50 3 6 2 4 2 12 10 10 3 4 4 5 19 31 Ret 4 Ret 21 3 2 2 2 0 1770 5 Craig Lowndes 6 Ret 7 1 2 10 6 Ret 17 28 27 15 6 2 16 2 15 9 16 12 18 6 4 0 1756 6 Steven Richards 11 4 2 7 8 3 4 3 8 9 6 5 Ret 23 6 4 Ret 22 20 6 6 4 16 50 1709 7 Russell Ingall 9 7 12 10 3 4 5 27 14 Ret 17 8 1 8 5 6 1 1 19 26 10 DSQ DSQ 90 1701 8 Rick Kelly 15 9 24 11 9 11 10 9 4 14 7 18 9 24 3 1 5 7 8 13 5 25 10 25 1675 9 Todd Kelly 2 5 5 5 Ret DSQ 7 7 2 7 24 Ret 3 6 1 8 10 Ret 2 4 4 3 Ret 0 1628 10 Paul Radisich 65 12 4 12 15 7 16 13 6 5 8 23 Ret Ret 7 7 11 6 5 7 8 12 7 0 1618 11 John Bowe 888 Ret 23 21 30 8 30 11 11 10 10 7 7 7 4 10 14 10 12 10 Ret 11 14 0 1478 12 Garth Tander 34 13 15 4 6 Ret 9 5 5 4 3 24 25 4 18 19 16 Ret 3 Ret 21 22 5 0 1470 13 Paul Weel 16 14 3 8 11 5 13 6 7 12 11 13 10 16 22 Ret 13 16 15 11 12 29 Ret 0 1450 14 Jason Bargwanna 20 15 19 26 14 13 Ret Ret DNS 17 13 20 17 15 9 Ret 17 13 4 5 13 9 6 0 1341 15 Glenn Seton 5 18 10 9 26 12 14 15 18 Ret 16 17 Ret Ret 16 2 12 5 11 9 11 18 Ret 0 1266 16 Steven Johnson 17 6 Ret 18 17 19 29 18 12 13 29 12 12 Ret 15 13 8 8 10 Ret 16 20 Ret 0 1229 17 Max Wilson 18 26 Ret 16 16 9 24 17 13 Ret 20 16 24 Ret 19 12 9 23 18 24 19 5 3 0 1214 18 Cameron McConville 3 8 Ret Ret 12 17 21 8 9 23 14 14 15 9 Ret 20 19 15 Ret 18 20 10 8 0 1191 19 Steven Ellery 31 29 DSQ 20 22 25 11 16 Ret 8 15 9 14 21 2 3 Ret Ret 9 21 14 24 23 0 1164 20 Brad Jones 21 24 18 15 Ret 26 15 14 15 15 21 10 Ret 12 4 10 Ret 18 22 22 15 16 18 0 1127 21 David Besnard 19/7 Ret Ret Ret 13 24 20 20 Ret 24 18 28 11 13 8 Ret 7 Ret 25 15 Ret 28 11 0 1059 22 Simon Wills 44 16 9 22 7 Ret 8 Ret 16 11 9 6 Ret Ret Ret 22 22 11 13 8 7 Ret 22 0 1059 23 Paul Morris 29 27 20 13 10 Ret 18 Ret 20 Ret 23 30 4 Ret 13 Ret 20 19 14 16 Ret 8 19 0 1047 24 Dean Canto 66 20 Ret 29 23 23 27 22 26 18 12 19 22 10 14 Ret Ret 24 17 14 25 15 9 0 1001 25 Mark Larkham 10 23 16 23 18 22 26 23 27 26 30 21 Ret 18 9 Ret 18 17 27 20 23 19 Ret 0 949 26 Jason Richards 45 28 Ret 28 21 15 28 12 25 16 31 24 20 5 Ret 22 23 Ret DNS DNS DNS 14 21 0 909 27 Jamie Whincup 33 17 22 25 Ret Ret 22 Ret 21 20 Ret 11 16 20 29 19 25 12 28 17 Ret 13 15 0 906 28 Mark Noske 23/9 Ret 13 30 27 18 17 19 19 19 25 29 21 14 11 Ret Ret 25 Ret DNS DNS 17 13 0 905 29 Paul Dumbrell 8 11 8 31 20 Ret 19 26 Ret 27 22 Ret 13 17 Ret 14 26 21 24 28 17 21 12 0 887 30 Craig Baird 021 21 14 19 24 DSQ 25 24 22 22 19 27 18 22 Ret 17 21 14 23 19 22 26 20 0 856 31 Anthony Tratt 75 19 Ret 24 Ret 16 31 21 24 25 Ret DNS 19 Ret 30 Ret 24 20 Ret 25 24 27 17 0 678 32 Greg Ritter 00/16 22 13 14 28 20 29 26 20 22 Ret 0 537 33 David Thexton 99 DNQ DNQ DNQ 29 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 23 DNQ 26 16 DNQ DNQ 26 27 26 DNQ DNQ 0 348 34 Rodney Forbes 7 25 21 27 25 DSQ 23 25 28 21 28 26 0 238 35 Luke Youlden 31 2 3 0 188 36 Larry Perkins 11 6 4 0 180 37 Tony Longhurst 2 10 5 0 176 37 Jim Richards 2 10 5 0 176 39 Rickard Rydell 65 7 7 0 168 40 Owen Kelly 19 8 Ret 0 164 41 John Cleland 888 20 9 0 160 41 Andrew Jones 888 20 9 0 160 43 Wayne Wakefield 24/45 DNQ 21 DNQ DNQ 28 DNQ 0 156 44 Nicolas Minassian 45 28 11 0 152 44 Mark Winterbottom 9 11 Ret 0 152 46 David Brabham 18 19 12 0 148 47 Cameron McLean 15 12 Ret 0 148 47 Andy Priaulx 15 12 Ret 0 148 49 Warren Luff 17 15 13 0 144 49 John Faulkner 29 13 Ret 0 144 51 Matthew White 66 14 Ret 0 140 51 Tomas Mezera 8 Ret 14 0 140 53 Darren Hossack 5 17 Ret 0 128 53 Adam Macrow 5 17 Ret 0 128 53 Mark Porter 021 Ret 17 0 128 56 Grant Johnson 20 23 18 0 124 56 Kerry Wade 20 23 18 0 124 56 Nathan Pretty 33 18 Ret 0 124 59 Tim Leahey 3 Ret 20 0 116 60 Steve Owen 13 21 21 0 112 60 Phillip Scifleet 13 21 21 0 112 62 Marcus Marshall 16 22 Ret 0 108 63 Dale Brede 46 24 Ret 0 100 63 Tony Ricciardello 46 24 Ret 0 100 65 Neal Bates 23 25 Ret 0 100 65 Rick Bates 23 25 Ret 0 100 67 Alan Gurr 24/72 27 Ret 0 88 67 Andy McElrea 24 27 DNQ 0 88 69 Paul Stokell 75 30 Ret 0 80 69 Allan Simonsen 33 29 Ret 0 80 Jan Magnussen 45 11 0 0 Jamie Miller 59 15 0 0 Ron Searle 59 15 0 0 Stephen Voight 99 16 0 0 Grant Elliott 89 23 0 0 Mal Rose 89 23 0 0 Brett Peters 99 26 0 0 Paul Romano 24 Ret Ret 0 0 David Krause 24 Ret Ret 0 0 Jose Fernandez 55 Ret 0 0 David Russell 55 Ret 0 0 Peter Doulman 69 Ret 0 0 Robert Jones 69 Ret 0 0 Jonny Reid 72 Ret 0 0 Pos. Driver No. ADE PHI EAS1 WIN BAR HID QLD ORA SAN BAT SUR PUK EAS2 Pen. Pts.

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole position Italics - Fastest lap

See also

• 2003 V8 Supercar season

References

1. "Skaife named owner of Holden Racing Team". 2 June 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2023– via www.abc.net.au.
2. "Holden completes V8 racing team sale". The Age. 6 June 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2023.

External links

• Official V8 Supercar site
• 2003 Racing Results Archive Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• Images from the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 27 September 2009