2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series

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, Circuit	City / state	Date
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	[V8 Supercar Challenge\|Gillette V8 Supercars\|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 of endurance racing with each car piloted by two drivers.
* = 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

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.