2003 Perth 300
| Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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| Round 5 of 13 in the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 6–8 June 2003 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Perth, Western Australia | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Barbagallo Raceway | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Sunny | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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The 2003 Perth 300 (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2003 VB 300) was the fifth round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 6 to 8 June at the Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, Western Australia.
Greg Murphy kicked off the weekend strongly by claiming pole position in the shootout and winning the first race of the weekend.[1] Following closely behind in second was Mark Skaife, who himself would strike back by claiming victory in the second race the following day. However, contact with a spinning Rodney Forbes stunted his charge in race three and a strong pit strategy by Stone Brothers Racing allowed Marcos Ambrose to hold off a determined charge by Todd Kelly to win race three. With his consistent run of podiums across the weekend, Ambrose was able to claim the overall round honours in the process with Murphy in second and Steven Richards in third.[2]
Jason Bright still maintained the lead of the championship despite a difficult weekend.
Background
[edit]The event was held on the weekend of 6 to 8 June 2003. It was the 27th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Barbagallo Raceway and consisted of three 100 km races with compulsory pitstops in each.
Entry list
[edit]There were 32 drivers entered into the event. It featured mixture of vehicle models - five AU Ford Falcon's, twelve BA Falcon's, six VY Commodore's, and ten VX Commodore's.
On the leadup to the event, Tom Walkinshaw Racing collapsed and the team was put up for sale by the administrator. The Holden Racing Team was purchased by Holden but as manufacturers were prohibited from owing teams, it was sold on to team driver, Mark Skaife.[3] The second section of the team colloquially known as the K-Mart Racing Team was sold to John and Margaret Kelly and would henceforth be known as John Kelly Racing.[4]
00 Motorsport would only field one car for the event, with Greg Ritter not competing and Rodney Forbes taking over Ritter's car. Wayne Wakefield of Paul Morris Motorsport would miss this, and the next round before returning to the championship at Ipswich. David Thexton would not enter this round.
Race report
[edit]Qualifying
[edit]
Top ten shootout
[edit]| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Vehicle | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 51 |  Greg Murphy |
John Kelly Racing | Holden Commodore (VX) | 0:58.2022 |
| 2 | 1 |  Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VY) | 0:58.2430 |
| 3 | 4 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 0:58.3595 |
| 4 | 11 | Steven Richards |
Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore (VX) | 0:58.4512 |
| 5 | 50 | Jason Bright |
Paul Weel Racing | Holden Commodore (VX) | 0:58.5710 |
| 6 | 44 | Simon Wills |
Team Dynamik | Holden Commodore (VY) | 0:58.7211 |
| 7 | 6 | Craig Lowndes |
Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 0:59.0811 |
| 8 | 34 | Garth Tander |
Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VY) | 0:59.4291 |
| 9 | 5 | Glenn Seton |
Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 0:59.7203 |
| 10 | 23 | Mark Noske |
Tony Noske Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 0:59.7309 |
| Source:[5] | |||||
Race 1
[edit]Race 2
[edit]Race 3
[edit]Championship standings
[edit]| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 50 | Jason Bright |
Paul Weel Racing | 851 |
|
2 | 11 | Steven Richards |
Perkins Engineering | 834 |
 |
3 | 4 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | 783 |
|
4 | 51 | Greg Murphy |
John Kelly Racing | 779 |
|
5 | 1 | Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team | 743 |
References
[edit]- ↑ "Murphy's law reigns at Barbagallo". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2003-06-07. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ "Ambrose takes out round five". ABC News Australia. 2003-06-08. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ "Skaife named owner of Holden Racing Team". ABC News Australia. 2003-06-01. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ "Holden completes V8 racing team sale". The Age. 2003-06-06. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- 1 2 3 "2003 V8 Supercars VB 300 (Race 1)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ "2003 V8 Supercars VB 300 (Race 2)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ "2003 V8 Supercars VB 300 (Race 3)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
| Supercars Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 2003 V8 Supercars Winton round |
2003 Supercars Championship | Next race: 2003 V8 Supercars Darwin round |
| Previous year: 2002 Perth 300 |
Barbagallo Raceway | Next year: 2004 Perth 300 |