2003 Betta Electrical Sandown 500
# 2003 Betta Electrical Sandown 500

The 2003 Betta Electrical Sandown 500 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars. The event was staged at the Sandown International Raceway near Melbourne in Victoria, Australia on 14 September 2003 as Round 9 of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The programmed race distance was 161 laps of the 3.1 km circuit (499 km) however the race was declared at 141 laps (437 km) due to the effects of the weather and a 19-minute delayed start due to a support category incident. It was the 36th Sandown 500 endurance race.

The race was won by Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly driving a Holden VY Commodore.

## Top 10 Shootout

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pole | 4 | Marcos Ambrose | Pirtek Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 1:11.8554 |
| 2 | 1 | Mark Skaife | Holden Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 1:12.2797 |
| 3 | 51 | Greg Murphy | K-Mart Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 1:12.3744 |
| 4 | 65 | Paul Radisich | Betta Electrical | Ford BA Falcon | 1:12.6438 |
| 5 | 44 | Simon Wills | Team Dynamik | Holden VY Commodore | 1:12.6448 |
| 6 | 17 | Steven Johnson | Shell Helix Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 1:12.6711 |
| 7 | 6 | Craig Lowndes | Ford Performance Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 1:12.6823 |
| 8 | 21 | John Bowe | OzEmail Racing Team | Ford BA Falcon | 1:12.9444 |
| 9 | 31 | Steven Ellery | Super Cheap Auto racing | Ford BA Falcon | 1:20.6263 |
| 10 | 29 | Paul Morris | Sirromet - Life Style Wine | Holden VY Commodore | Excluded |

## Race results

| Pos. | No. | Drivers | Entrant | Car | Laps | Qual Pos | Shootout Pos | Series Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Mark Skaife Todd Kelly | Holden Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 141 | 2 | 2 | 192 |
| 2 | 31 | Steven Ellery Luke Youlden | Super Cheap Auto Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 141 | 5 | 9 | 188 |
| 3 | 51 | Greg Murphy Rick Kelly | K-Mart Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 141 | 4 | 3 | 184 |
| 4 | 21 | John Bowe Brad Jones | OzEmail Racing Team | Ford BA Falcon | 141 | 8 | 8 | 180 |
| 5 | 4 | Marcos Ambrose Russell Ingall | Pirtek Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 140 | 3 | 1 | 176 |
| 6 | 11 | Steven Richards Larry Perkins | Castrol Perkins Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 140 | 21 | | 172 |
| 7 | 65 | Paul Radisich Rickard Rydell | Betta Electrical | Ford BA Falcon | 140 | 1 | 4 | 168 |
| 8 | 19 | David Besnard Owen Kelly | Ford Performance Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 140 | 23 | | 164 |
| 9 | 10 | Jason Bargwanna Mark Larkham | Orrcon Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 140 | 17 | | 160 |
| 10 | 2 | Jim Richards Tony Longhurst | Holden Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | 140 | 26 | | 156 |
| 11 | 9 | Mark Winterbottom Mark Noske | Caltex Havoline Race Team | Ford BA Falcon | 140 | 14 | | 152 |
| 12 | 15 | Andy Priaulx Cameron McLean | K-Mart Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | 140 | 15 | | 148 |
| 13 | 29 | Paul Morris John Faulkner | Sirromet - Life Style Wine | Holden VY Commodore | 139 | 9 | EXC | 144 |
| 14 | 66 | Dean Canto Matthew White | Betta Electrical | Ford BA Falcon | 139 | 18 | | 140 |
| 15 | 17 | Steven Johnson Warren Luff | Shell Helix Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 139 | 7 | 6 | 136 |
| 16 | 6 | Craig Lowndes Glenn Seton | Ford Performance Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 139 | 10 | 7 | 132 |
| 17 | 5 | Darren Hossack Adam Macrow | Ford Performance Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 139 | 22 | | 128 |
| 18 | 34 | Garth Tander Nathan Pretty | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VY Commodore | 138 | 11 | | 124 |
| 19 | 18 | Max Wilson David Brabham | Shell Helix Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 138 | 12 | | 120 |
| 20 | 888 | John Cleland Andrew Jones | OzEmail Racing Team | Ford BA Falcon | 138 | 19 | | 116 |
| 21 | 13 | Steve Owen Phillip Scifleet | Robert Smith Racing | Holden VX Commodore | 137 | 30 | | 112 |
| 22 | 16 | Greg Ritter Marcus Marshall | Team Brock | Holden VX Commodore | 137 | 20 | | 108 |
| 23 | 20 | Grant Johnson Kerry Wade | Orrcon Racing | Ford AU Falcon | 137 | 31 | | 104 |
| 24 | 46 | Dale Brede Tony Ricciardello | Holden Yound Lions | Holden VX Commodore | 136 | 33 | | 100 |
| 25 | 23 | Rick Bates Neal Bates | INXS Team Ford | Ford AU Falcon | 136 | 32 | | 96 |
| 26 | 99 | David Thexton Brett Peters | Thexton Motor Racing | Ford AU Falcon | 133 | 35 | | 92 |
| 27 | 24 | Alan Gurr Andy McElrea | Romano Racing | Holden VX Commodore | 133 | 34 | | 88 |
| 28 | 45 | Nicolas Minassian Wayne Wakefield | Team Dynamik | Holden VY Commodore | 132 | 27 | | 84 |
| 29 | 33 | Jamie Whincup Allan Simonsen | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VX Commodore | 130 | 28 | | 80 |
| 30 | 75 | Anthony Tratt Paul Stokell | Toll Racing | Ford BA Falcon | 128 | 29 | | 76 |
| 31 | 50 | Jason Bright Paul Weel | Team Brock | Holden VX Commodore | 117 | 13 | | 72 |
| DNF | 44 | Simon Wills Jason Richards | Team Dynamik | Holden VY Commodore | 139 | 6 | 5 | 68 |
| DNF | 8 | Paul Dumbrell Tomas Mezera | Castrol Perkins Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | 113 | 24 | | |
| DNF | 021 | Craig Baird (Mark Porter) + | Team Kiwi Racing | Holden VX Commodore | 54 | 16 | | |
| DNF | 3 | Cameron McConville (Tim Leahey) + | Lansvale Smash Repairs | Holden VX Commodore | 13 | 25 | | |

+ Mark Porter did not drive car 021 during the race and Tim Leahey did not drive car 3 during the race.

## Statistics

* Provisional Pole Position - #65 Paul Radisich - 1:11.0674
* Pole Position - #4 Marcos Ambrose - 1:11.8554
* Fastest Lap - #1 Mark Skaife - 1:12.0236
* Race Average Speed - 127 km/h
