The 2003 V8 Supercars Darwin round was the sixth round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 27 to 29 June at the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

The weekend was a close-fought battle between the forerunners of the Holden and Ford marques – Mark Skaife and Marcos Ambrose. Each driver traded sessions with Ambrose claiming provisional pole position and Skaife striking back in the shootout to take pole position for the first race. Skaife held off Ambrose to win the first race and in the second race, Ambrose would take victory after a late-race restart fiasco involving Jamie Whincup. The third and final race was won by Ambrose and thus allowed him to take overall round honours ahead of Skaife. Jason Bright would take third in overall points for the weekend to help maintain his championship lead.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 27 to 29 June 2003. It was the sixth V8 Supercar event to be held at Hidden Valley Raceway and consisted of one 50 km opener followed by two 100 km races with compulsory pitstops in each.

Entry list

There were 34 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.

Amidst dispute regarding charter contracts, Greg Ritter returned to 00 Motorsport after missing the previous round in Perth. With the teams situation becoming increasingly turbulent, this would ultimately mark the final round 00 Motorsport would compete in. The Racing Entitlement Contract was sold to Paul Weel Racing and the hardware in 2004 to WPS Racing.

David Thexton returned to the series after missing the previous round in Perth.

Race report Qualifying Marcos Ambrose claimed provisional pole position over Mark Skaife over a tenth of a second. As often was the case, David Thexton failed to qualify for the event after posting a time three tenths shy of the 105% ruling.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.4384 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.5943 3 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.7783 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.8589 5 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.9166 6 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.9372 7 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.9503 8 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.9770 9 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.9869 10 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0214 11 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.0713 12 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1142 13 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1152 14 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.1239 15 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1945 16 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.2386 17 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.2458 18 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.2701 19 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2873 20 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2897 21 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.4000 22 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.4329 23 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.4954 24 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.5310 25 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.5447 26 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.5486 27 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5559 28 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5851 29 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.6171 30 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6612 31 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.7827 32 23 Mark Noske Tony Noske Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.8788 33 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.9314 105% time – 1:11.8603 DNQ 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.1864 Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.6282 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.6411 3 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.9303 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0332 5 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2540 6 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.2924 7 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3161 8 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5238 9 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6305 10 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.7555 Source:

Race 1 Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 17 21:59.5111 1 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 1.236 2 3 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 8.582 4 4 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 17 + 9.794 6 5 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 10.984 8 6 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 11.870 3 7 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 17 + 12.418 10 8 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 15.754 11 9 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 16.319 16 10 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 16.800 9 11 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 17 + 17.148 13 12 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 19.638 17 13 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 20.493 23 14 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 21.390 14 15 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 22.382 19 16 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 17 + 23.309 15 17 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 25.102 21 18 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 26.088 27 19 23 Mark Noske Tony Noske Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 31.565 32 20 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 33.048 29 21 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 33.957 31 22 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 36.790 33 23 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 37.245 24 24 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 43.941 18 25 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 46.992 30 26 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 47.312 25 27 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 49.765 26 28 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 16 + 1 lap 7 29 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 16 + 1 lap 28 Ret 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 12 Retired 22 Ret 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 10 Retired 20 Ret 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 3 Retired 12 Ret 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0 Retired 5 Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:09.4432 on lap 9 Source:

Race 2 Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 45:03.2352 2 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 35 + 0.239 1 3 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 35 + 3.696 4 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 6.122 3 5 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 6.539 6 6 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 6.857 9 7 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 7.202 14 8 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 7.642 5 9 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 35 + 7.851 11 10 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 9.053 10 11 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 10.307 12 12 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 10.559 18 13 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 10.863 17 14 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 11.575 23 15 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 11.702 8 16 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 12.406 31 17 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 12.551 33 18 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 13.004 24 19 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 14.433 22 20 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 15.940 30 21 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 35 + 16.113 15 22 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 18.850 27 23 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 35 + 19.291 32 24 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 34 + 1 lap 7 25 23 Mark Noske Tony Noske Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 34 + 1 lap 19 26 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 34 + 1 lap 29 27 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 34 + 1 lap 28 28 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 34 + 1 lap 21 29 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 34 + 1 lap 13 30 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 33 + 2 laps 26 31 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 28 + 7 laps 16 Ret 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 28 Retired 20 Ret 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 24 Retired 25 Fastest Lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.1488 on lap 6 Source:

Race 3