The 2003 V8 Supercars Winton round was the fourth round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 23 to 25 May at the Winton Motor Raceway in Winton, Victoria. The race was scheduled for 100 laps at a distance of 300 kilometers.

Marcos Ambrose continued his form from the previous round at Eastern Creek by dominating the race from pole position to claim victory. An early safety car saw Stone Brothers Racing elect for an alternate strategy for Ambrose which ultimately paid off. The podium was rounded out by championship leader Jason Bright and Steven Richards.

A late-race incident between Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy was a source of controversy with the latter being issued a drive-through penalty for his role in the incident. Most people disagreed with the stewards decision as it was viewed that Lowndes was out of control at the moment of impact and that Murphy had nowhere to go. The penalty invoked an impassioned and irate reaction from Murphy and from television commentator, Neil Crompton.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 23 to 25 May 2003. It was the 17th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Winton Motor 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 - six AU Ford Falcon's, thirteen BA Falcon's, six VY Commodore's, and ten VX Commodore's.

Glenn Seton would be entered with a brand-new Ford Performance Racing-built BA Falcon.

Race report Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.2604 2 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.2779 3 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.2921 4 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:23.3300 5 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.3563 6 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.3976 7 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:23.4757 8 15 Rick Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.4822 9 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:23.5049 10 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.6052 11 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:23.6369 12 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.7261 13 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:23.8094 14 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.8265 15 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.8572 16 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.9435 17 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.9696 18 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.0128 19 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.0360 20 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:24.0391 21 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.0411 22 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:24.0534 23 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.0717 24 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.0795 25 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.1002 26 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.1374 27 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:24.1873 28 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.2342 29 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:24.3986 30 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:24.4202 31 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.6298 32 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.6952 33 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.7812 34 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:25.1085 35 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:28.4395 Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:23.7019 2 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:23.9869 3 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.0895 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:24.2763 5 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:24.3715 6 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.5121 7 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:24.5940 8 15 Rick Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.6866 9 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:24.7298 10 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:24.8847 Source:

Race Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 02:28:50.5241 1 2 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 3.950 3 3 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 5.537 6 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 11.022 4 5 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 18.144 16 6 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 100 + 21.323 5 7 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 30.154 25 8 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 36.192 15 9 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 37.465 12 10 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 39.089 14 11 15 Rick Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 40.185 8 12 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 100 + 40.564 18 13 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 100 + 45.217 27 14 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 46.648 2 15 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 100 + 1:07.115 22 16 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 100 + 1:11.629 29 17 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 100 + 1:12.451 23 18 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 99 + 1 lap 20 19 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 99 + 1 lap 21 20 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 99 + 1 lap 33 21 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 99 + 1 lap 28 22 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 99 + 1 lap 32 23 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 98 + 2 laps 26 24 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 96 + 4 laps 30 25 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 93 + 7 laps 17 26 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 85 + 15 laps 24 Ret 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 98 Retired 11 Ret 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 85 Retired 9 Ret 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 49 Retired 13 Ret 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 40 Retired 7 Ret 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 3 Retired 19 DSQ 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 100 Disqualified 10 DSQ 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) Disqualified 31 DSQ 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) Disqualified 34 DNQ 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) Did not qualify Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:24.0433 on lap 52 Source:

Championship standings No Driver Team 1 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 717 2 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 666 3 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 633 4 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 597 5 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 597

References