2003 V8 Supercar season explained

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.

DateSeriesCircuitCity / stateWinnerTeamCarReport
23 FebKVS Round 1Wakefield ParkGoulburn, New South WalesMark WinterbottomStone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon
7–8 MarAlbert Park street circuitMelbourne, VictoriaRussell IngallStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falconreport
18–22 MarKVS Round 2Adelaide Street CircuitAdelaide, South AustraliaMark WinterbottomStone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon
Clipsal 500 VCS Round 1Mark SkaifeHolden Racing TeamHolden VY Commodore
13 AprVCS Round 2Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitPhillip Island, VictoriaCraig LowndesFord Performance RacingFord BA Falcon
3–4 MayKVS Round 3Eastern Creek RacewaySydney, New South WalesMark WinterbottomStone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon
VCS Round 3Marcos AmbroseStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
25 MayVCS Round 4Winton Motor RacewayBenalla, VictoriaMarcos AmbroseStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
7–8 JunVB 400 VCS Round 5Barbagallo RacewayPerth, Western AustraliaMarcos AmbroseStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
28 JunVCS Round 6Hidden Valley RacewayDarwin, Northern TerritoryMark SkaifeHolden Racing TeamHolden VY Commodore
6 JulKVS Round 4Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitPhillip Island, VictoriaMatthew WhiteMatthew White RacingHolden VT Commodore
19–20 JulVCS Round 7Queensland RacewayIpswich, QueenslandRussell IngallStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
3 AugKVS Round 5Winton Motor RacewayBenalla, VictoriaAndrew JonesBrad Jones RacingFord AU Falcon
16–17 AugVCS Round 8Oran Park RacewaySydney, New South WalesMarcos AmbroseStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
31 AugKVS Round 6Mallala Motor Sport ParkAdelaide, South AustraliaMark WinterbottomStone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon
12–13 SepBetta Electrical 500 VCS Round 9Sandown RacewayMelbourne, VictoriaMark Skaife
Todd Kelly		Holden Racing TeamHolden VY Commodorereport
11–12 OctKonica V8 Supercar ChallengeMount Panorama CircuitBathurst, New South WalesMark WinterbottomStone Brothers RacingFord AU Falconreport
Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 VCS Round 10Greg Murphy
Rick Kelly		K-Mart Racing TeamHolden VY Commodorereport
25–26 OctGillette V8 Supercar Challenge VCS Round 11 Surfers Paradise street circuitSurfers Paradise, QueenslandRussell IngallStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon
8–9 NovPlacemakers V8 International VCS Round 12Pukekohe Park RacewayPukekohe, New ZealandGreg MurphyK-Mart Racing TeamHolden VY Commodore
29–30 NovVIP Pet Foods Main Event VCS Round 13Eastern Creek RacewaySydney, New South WalesMarcos AmbroseStone Brothers RacingFord BA Falcon

Netspace V8Supercar Showdown

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

DriverNo.TeamCarRace 1Race 2
Russell Ingall9Stone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon21
Steven Richards11Castrol Perkins RacingHolden VX Commodore32
Jason Bright50Paul Weel RacingHolden VX Commodore13
Jason Bargwanna20Larkham Motor SportFord AU Falcon54
John Bowe88Brad Jones RacingFord BA Falcon65
Steven Johnson17Dick Johnson RacingFord BA Falcon96
Craig Lowndes6Ford Performance RacingFord BA Falcon77
Greg Murphy51K-Mart Racing TeamHolden VX Commodore48
Dean Canto66Briggs Motor SportFord BA Falcon119
David Besnard19Ford Performance RacingFord AU Falcon1010
Paul Dumbrell8Castrol Perkins RacingHolden VX Commodore1411
Rodney Forbes7Gibson Motor SportFord AU Falcon1512
Max Wilson18Dick Johnson RacingFord BA Falcon2413
Rick Kelly15K-Mart Racing TeamHolden VX Commodore1314
Paul Morris29Paul Morris MotorsportHolden VY Commodore1615
Paul Radisich65Briggs Motor SportFord BA FalconDNF16
Glenn Seton5Ford Performance RacingFord AU Falcon1717
Mark Skaife1Holden Racing TeamHolden VY CommodoreDNF18
Cameron McConville3Lansvale Racing TeamHolden VX Commodore2019
Mark Larkham10Larkham Motor SportFord AU Falcon2220
Greg Ritter00Gibson Motor SportFord BA Falcon2121
Brad Jones21Brad Jones RacingFord BA Falcon1222
Jason Richards45Team DynamikHolden VY Commodore23DNF
Simon Wills44Team DynamikHolden VY Commodore25DNF
Anthony Tratt75Paul Little RacingFord AU Falcon27DNF
Jamie Whincup33Garry Rogers MotorsportHolden VX Commodore19DNF
Marcos Ambrose4Stone Brothers RacingFord AU Falcon18DNF
Craig Baird69Team Kiwi RacingHolden VX Commodore26DNF
Steve Ellery31Supercheap Auto RacingFord BA Falcon8DNS
Todd Kelly2Holden Racing TeamHolden VY CommodoreDNFDNS
Garth Tander34Garry Rogers MotorsportHolden VY CommodoreDNFDNS
Paul Weel16Paul Weel RacingHolden VX CommodoreDNFDNS

V8 Supercar Championship Series

See main article: 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Konica V8 Supercar Series

See 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]

DriverNo.TeamCarGridRace
Mark Winterbottom41Stone Brothers RacingFord AU FalconPole1
Warren Luff71Dick Johnson RacingFord AU Falcon22
Matthew White28Matthew White RacingFord AU Falcon43
Mark Porter64Independent Race Cars AustraliaHolden VX Commodore64
Adam Wallis88Halliday Motor SportFord AU Falcon75
Tony D'Alberto96Holden Young LionsHolden VX Commodore86
Kevin Mundy89Kevin Mundy RacingFord AU Falcon57
Grant Elliott98Sydney Star RacingHolden VS Commodore108
Mark Howard37Howard RacingFord AU Falcon99
Ben Eggleston38Eggleston MotorsportHolden VX Commodore1110
Derek van Zelm58Motorsport Engineering ServicesHolden VT Commodore1911
Steve Voight100Thexton Motor RacingFord EL Falcon1312
Tim Gordon49Howard RacingFord AU Falcon1613
David Thexton40Thexton Motor RacingFord AU Falcon1714
Peter Best90Allied Chemical CleaningHolden VS Commodore2115
Phill Foster42Beikoff RacingHolden VS Commodore2216
Ray Ayton87Unibrite Property GroupFord EL Falcon2417
Tim Rowse300ANT RacingHolden VS Commodore1518
Clyde Lawrence35Clyde Lawrence RacingHolden VS Commodore20DNF
John Henderson666NMS RacingFord EL Falcon14DNF
Richard Mork77V8 RacingHolden VS Commodore18DNF
Owen Kelly22Paul Cruikshank RacingFord AU Falcon3DNF
Shane Beikoff68Beikoff RacingFord EL Falcon12DNS
Milton Seferis14Imrie Motor SportHolden VX Commodore23DNS
Garry Willmington110Willmington PerformanceFord EL Falcon25DNS

References

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 - Round 10 2003 V8 Supercar Series Mount Panorama - Bathurst Konica V8 Supercars - Race . National Software . 11 October 2003 . 2009-01-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040331092312/http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?12%2F10%2F2003.MOUN.R7 . 31 March 2004 . dead. dmy-all .

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