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.

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,CircuitCity / stateDate 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

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. ManufacturerVehicleTeamDriversEventsEndurance Event Drivers Ford Falcon AU Ford Performance Racing 5 Glenn Seton 1–3 Rod Nash Racing () 19 David Besnard 1–6 00 Motorsport 7 Rodney Forbes 1–3 Larkham Motorsport 10 Mark Larkham 1–8, 11–13rowspan=2 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 () 7 David Besnard 11–13 19 7–10 Owen Kelly 00 Motorsport 7 Rodney Forbes 4, 6 rowspan=3 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 Triple Eight Race Engineering 65 Paul Radisich All Rickard Rydell 66 Dean Canto All Matthew White Paul Little Racing 75 Anthony Tratt 8–13 Paul Stokell Holden John Kelly Racing () 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 () 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 Paul Weel Racing. Todd Kelly left Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia to join the Holden Racing Team replacing Jason Bright. Rick Kelly left Holden Young Lions to join Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia replacing his brother Todd. 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 endurance rounds. Mark Noske returned to the Supercars Championship joining ICS Team Ford. He later joined Mark Winterbottom for the endurance rounds. Neal Bates substituted for him at ICS Team Ford. 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 Rod Nash Racing 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.

Results and standings Results summary Race Event Pole position Race winners Round winner 1 R1 Adelaide Jason Bright Marcos Ambrose Mark Skaife report R2 Mark Skaife 2 Phillip Island Mark Skaife Craig Lowndes report 3 Eastern Creek 1 Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose report 4 Winton Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose report 5 R1 Perth Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Marcos Ambrose report R2 Mark Skaife R3 Marcos Ambrose 6 R1 Darwin Mark Skaife Mark Skaife Marcos Ambrose report R2 Marcos Ambrose R3 Marcos Ambrose 7 Ipswich Marcos Ambrose Russell Ingall report 8 Oran Park Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose report 9 Sandown Marcos Ambrose Mark Skaife Todd Kelly report 10 Bathurst Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Rick Kelly report 11 R1 Gold Coast Todd Kelly Russell Ingall Russell Ingall report R2 Russell Ingall 12 R1 Pukekohe Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Greg Murphy report R2 Greg Murphy R3 Mark Skaife 13 R1 Eastern Creek 2 Mark Skaife Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose report 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.