The 2003 V8 Supercars Eastern Creek round was the third round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 2 to 4 May at the Eastern Creek International Raceway in Sydney, New South Wales. The race was scheduled for 77 laps at a distance of 300 kilometers. To date, the race remains the longest single-driver race held in the V8 Supercar series.

Marcos Ambrose took his first round victory of the season in a dominant light-to-flag victory from pole position. Behind him, Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall followed suit to make it a Ford trifecta on the podium. Mark Skaife was the best performing Holden driver of the weekend but was curtailed by an ill-timed strategic call for wet weather tyres as well as a split rim midway through the race which threw him out of contention and down the order.

Ambrose's victory marked the beginning of a six-round victory streak for Stone Brothers Racing as the team established itself as the new in-form team in the V8 Supercar series.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 2 to 4 May 2003. It was the 10th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Eastern Creek International Raceway and consisted of one 300 km race with two compulsory pitstops for fuel and tyres.

Entry list

There were 33 drivers entered into the event. It featured mixture of vehicle models - seven AU Ford Falcon's, twelve BA Falcon's, six VY Commodore's, and ten VX Commodore's.

00 Motorsport debuted a brand-new BA Falcon for Rodney Forbes at this round while an additional Paul Morris Motorsport VX Commodore driven by Wayne Wakefield was also entered.

Race report Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:31.1923 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:31.7778 3 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.0096 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.0379 5 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.0963 6 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.0963 7 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.1090 8 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.2189 9 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.2199 10 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.2677 11 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.2883 12 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.3744 13 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:32.3929 14 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.4259 15 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.4596 16 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.6236 17 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.6511 18 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.7707 19 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.7866 20 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.8189 21 15 Rick Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.8439 22 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.9583 23 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:33.0147 24 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.0661 25 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:33.1228 26 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:33.2472 27 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:33.2930 28 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:33.3648 29 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:33.5063 30 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.6058 31 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.6770 32 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:33.8126 33 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:33.9684 34 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:34.6006 35 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:35.6729 Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:31.5582 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:31.8212 3 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:31.9319 4 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.1608 5 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.3262 6 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.4185 7 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:32.4540 8 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.6361 9 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.7225 10 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.7282 Source:

Race Before the race, a minute of silence was held in commemoration of New Zealand rally driver, Possum Bourne.

Ambrose won the holeshot into turn one while Skaife became swamped and lost two positions to Greg Murphy and Craig Lowndes. Later on the same lap, John Bowe was spun at the turn nine hairpin by Garth Tander. Bowe's day went from bad to worse when he was adjudged to have jumped the start and was issued a drive-through penalty. Teammate Brad Jones was also suffering from a slipping clutch which took a few laps before rectifying itself. Max Wilson also came to grief after receiving contact from Glenn Seton.

As early as lap four, rain was forecast to hit the circuit around lap seven or eight. This failed to materialise as Ambrose continued to streak ahead with a gap of five seconds over Murphy by the end of lap eight and appeared to be managing tyres better than any other driver on the circuit. Greg Ritter was spun by Mark Noske coming out of turn seven. It was the first of two incidents for Ritter during the race; the second being a high-speed spin at turn one which caused damage to his BA Falcon. At the beginning of lap 13, Lowndes passed Murphy at the entry of turn one for second place.

Ambrose made his first compulsory pitstop on lap 30 for fuel. Moments later, Skaife slowed dramatically as the Holden factory driver experienced issues with the front-right tyre owing to a split rim. Laps earlier, teammate Todd Kelly experienced similar issues and on lap 39, was forced into the pits again after sustaining damage to the front spoiler of his car. Upon discovering the extremity of the damage to the cooling of the car, Kelly was forced to retire from the race. Lowndes finally made his first pitstop at the end of lap 37 and relinquished the lead back to Ambrose. Ambrose would then pit for his second compulsory stop for tyres on lap 42. Jason Richards was issued a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Laps later, he would be issued a second, suggesting there to be issues with his electronic speed limiter. Brad Jones retired on lap 47 owing to mechanical issues, pulling off to the side of the road at turn eight. The precarious placing of Jones' car led to the safety car being deploying.

The race resumed on lap 54 and drizzle began to descend upon the circuit. With his race already compromised, Skaife elected to gamble on wet weather tyres later in the lap. Two other drivers, Mark Noske and Glenn Seton, would also pit for wet weather tyres. Stone Brothers Racing conferred with Ambrose the possibility of pitting for wet weather tyres, but Ambrose elected against this. The rain appeared to be getting heavier, but it eventually began to ease and those out on wet weather tyres began to lose ground dramatically. All those drivers were forced to re-pit for slick tyres mere laps later. Bowe's turbulent race became even more so when he began to experience engine issues shortly after the restart. Anthony Tratt retired after the alternator on his car ruptured.

Murphy began to battle with tyres in the last dozen laps of the race. His struggle for grip led to Ingall passing him for fourth and began to chase after Lowndes, who in turn was hounding Bright for second place. With two laps remaining, Bright strayed wide at turn four and Lowndes slipped up the inside to take second place. On the final lap, Ingall managed to sneak by Bright for third at the same point of the circuit as Rodney Forbes blew his engine and began to dump oil all over the racing line. Up the front, Ambrose was unchallenged to the flag and took his first round victory of the season. Lowndes and Ingall rounded out the podium to make it a podium lockout for the Ford marque.

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 77 02:07:14.6385 1 2 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 77 + 25.869 4 3 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 77 + 26.053 10 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 77 + 26.517 7 5 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 77 + 31.012 5 6 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 77 + 32.149 8 7 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 77 + 34.881 9 8 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 77 + 36.691 17 9 15 Rick Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 77 + 37.518 21 10 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 77 + 40.961 11 11 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 77 + 45.676 16 12 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 77 1:33.326 14 13 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 76 + 1 lap 27 14 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 76 + 1 lap 13 15 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 76 + 1 lap 18 16 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 76 + 1 lap 22 17 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 76 + 1 lap 20 18 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 76 + 1 lap 25 19 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 76 + 1 lap 2 20 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 76 + 1 lap 26 21 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 76 + 1 lap 12 22 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 76 + 1 lap 15 23 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 76 + 1 lap 30 24 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 76 + 1 lap 28 25 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 75 + 2 laps 31 26 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 75 + 2 laps 23 27 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 75 + 2 laps 29 28 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 74 + 3 laps 24 29 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 73 + 4 laps 35 30 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 66 + 11 laps 6 NC 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 52 Alternator 32 Ret 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 47 Mechanical 19 Ret 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 38 Radiator 3 Ret 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 12 Mechanical 33 Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:32.9609 on lap 2 Source:

Championship standings No Driver Team 1 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 531 2 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 486 3 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia 483 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 459 5 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing 456

References