The 2003 V8 Supercars Oran Park round was the eighth round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 15 to 17 August at the Oran Park Raceway in Sydney, New South Wales. The race was scheduled for 111 laps at a distance of 300 kilometers.

Marcos Ambrose dominated proceedings to take his fifth round win of the season and his seventh race win of the year. After blitzing the timing sheets in qualifying to take pole position, Ambrose remained unchallenged up the front despite a scare at the start of the race after contact with Paul Morris. Craig Lowndes secured his first podium since Eastern Creek and Mark Skaife rounded out the podium to help keep his championship hopes alive.

Ambrose's victory, coupled with Jason Bright's bad weekend, meant the Pritek-backed driver would become the new leader of the championship. It was a lead he would not relinquish en route to his maiden V8 Supercar championship title.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 15 to 17 August 2003. It was the 33rd ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Oran Park 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 - three AU Ford Falcon's, fourteen BA Falcon's, seven VY Commodore's, and eight VX Commodore's.

Greg Murphy would debut a brand-new John Kelly Racing-built VY Commodore for this round. Jason Bargwanna would also debut the BA Falcon for Larkham Motorsport and Anthony Tratt would receive the same treatment with Paul Little Racing.

This would be Briggs Motorsport's final outing in the V8 Supercar series before being bought out by Triple Eight Race Engineering in September.

David Thexton would withdraw from the weekend at the conclusion of practice three. He cited his own lack of pace compared to those around him as the reason for his departure.

Race report Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.9278 2 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.9769 3 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.9905 4 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.0723 5 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.0875 6 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2283 7 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.2662 8 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.3523 9 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.3561 10 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3721 11 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.4787 12 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.5266 13 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5280 14 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5539 15 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5895 16 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.5977 17 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6083 18 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.6247 19 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.6519 20 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6802 21 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.7147 22 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.8155 23 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.8965 24 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.9652 25 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.9898 26 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.0054 27 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:10.0450 28 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.1017 29 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.1267 30 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.3671 31 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.5297 32 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.9479 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) no time Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.9291 2 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.5545 3 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.6129 4 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.6749 5 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.7136 6 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.8222 7 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.9545 8 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.0581 9 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.1560 10 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.1764 Source:

Race Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 111 02:15:55.4043 1 2 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 111 + 12.454 9 3 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 111 + 19.530 4 4 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 111 + 23.886 11 5 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 111 + 27.881 5 6 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 110 + 1 lap 8 7 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 15 8 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 6 9 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 110 + 1 lap 16 10 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 14 11 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 110 + 1 lap 2 12 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 25 13 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 17 14 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 110 + 1 lap 27 15 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 110 + 1 lap 23 16 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 110 + 1 lap 19 17 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 110 + 1 lap 30 18 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 110 + 1 lap 20 19 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 110 + 1 lap 18 20 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 110 + 1 lap 31 21 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 97 + 14 laps 7 22 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 95 + 16 laps 24 23 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 89 + 22 laps 12 24 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 85 + 26 laps 22 Ret 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 109 Suspension 3 Ret 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 77 Retired 29 Ret 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 73 Engine 26 Ret 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 Misfire 13 Ret 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 7 Accident damage 9 Ret 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 5 Accident damage 21 DNS 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0 Did not start 32 DNS 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Did not start 28 WD 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) Withdrew Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:09.7922 on lap 2 Source:

Championship standings

No Driver Team 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 1351 2 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 1279 3 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 1233 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 1163 5 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 1145

References