Greg murphy 2006 australian grand prix melbourne

The 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series was a motor racing series for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

. The series, which was the fifth

V8 Supercar Championship Series The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

, began on 22 March 2003 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and ended on 30 November at

Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sy ...

after 13 rounds. It ended with the awarding of the 44th

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

title by the

Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Motorsport Australia, formerly the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), is the nationally recognised governing and sanctioning body for four-wheeled motorsport in Australia. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l' ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n driver

Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Ambrose relocated to the Un ...

. It was the first time a

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones's shares in Alan Jones ...

driver had won the championship and marked the first title win by a Ford driver since

Glenn Seton Glenn Seton (born 5 May 1965) is an Australian racing driver. He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 and 1997 while driving for his own team. Although he never won the Bathurst 1000 like his father Barry did in 1965, Glenn s ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, ending a five-year run by Holden Racing Team drivers.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers and teams competed in the 2003

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

Championship Series. The series consisted of eleven rounds of sprint racing and two rounds (the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars co ...

and the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

) of endurance racing with each car piloted by two drivers. * = Drove in

only ** = Drove in

only

Driver changes

Jason Bright Jason Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a satellite team of Prodrive Racing Australia, b ...

left the Holden Racing Team to join Team Brock. * Todd Kelly left the K-Mart Racing Team to join the Holden Racing Team replacing

. *

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with w ...

left the

Holden Young Lions Holden Young Lions was a brand used by Australian motor vehicle manufacturer Holden for its young racing driver development program. First appearing in 1997, the program was operated by a number of teams over the years. In 2014 the Holden Youn ...

to join the K-Mart Racing Team replacing his brother Todd Kelly. *

Russell Ingall Russell Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000, in 1 ...

left Perkins Engineering to join

replacing David Besnard. * David Besnard left

to join Ford Performance Racing. *

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Sup ...

left 00 Motorsport to join Ford Performance Racing. *

Greg Ritter Greg Ritter (born 20 February 1973, in Victoria) is an Australian racing driver. He was the winner of the 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship The 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for ...

returned to the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australia ...

joining 00 Motorsport replacing

. * Larry Perkins stepped down from full-time competition. He joined

Steven Richards Steven James Richards (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Richards, the son of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards, is himself a five- ...

for the Enduro Rounds. * Mark Noske returned to the

joining ICS Team Ford for the Single Driver Rounds. He joined

Mark Winterbottom Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom (born 20 May 1981) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving the No. 18 Holden ZB Commodore for Team 18. His career highlights include winning the ...

for the Enduro Rounds. He was replaced by Professional Australian Rally Driver

Neal Bates Neal Bates (born 19 March 1965) is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Throughout his career Bates has been associated with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship and for 19 years his Neal Bates Motorsport outfit ran Toyota's official ...

for the Enduro Rounds. * Jason Bargwanna left

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the te ...

to join Larkham Motorsport. *

Paul Radisich Paul Radisich (born 9 October 1962, in Auckland) is a retired New Zealand racing driver and businessman of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New ...

and

Max Wilson Max Wilson (born August 22, 1972 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage. Racing career Junior formulae Wilson started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts. He moved into single-seaters in 1993, when he was o ...

effectively swapped seats, with Radisich moving to Briggs Motor Sport and Wilson to

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respectivel ...

. *

Jason Richards Jason John Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the ...

left

Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing is a racing team that previously competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series, the Australian Carrera Cup Series, The New Zealand 2.0ltr Touring Car Championship, The NZV8 Championship and BMW Championship Series. The team has s ...

to join

Team Dynamik Team Dynamik was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian V8 Supercar racing between 2001 and 2005. History Owned by Kieran Wills, Adelaide based Team Dynamik debuted in the 2001 with Simon Wills racing an ex Gibson Motorsp ...

. *

Craig Baird Craig George Baird (born 22 July 1970) is a New Zealand former racing driver who now is the driving standards observer for the Australian Supercars Championship. Honours In the 2010 New Year Honours, Baird was appointed a Member of the New ...

left Team Brock and replaced

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 Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring ca ...

in February, the Holden Racing Team and Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia entries were sold to Skaife Sports Pty Ltd and John Kelly Racing respectively.https://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorsport/holden-completes-v8-racing-team-sale-20030606-gdvtwb.html

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 2003

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.

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.

References

External links

Official V8 Supercar site

2003 Racing Results Archive

Images from the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 27 September 2009 {{Australian Touring Car Racing Supercars Championship seasons