2003 Bathurst 1000

The 2003 Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000 was the seventh running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was the 47th race that traces its lineage back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.

It was held on 12 October 2003 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst and was the tenth round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The race was won by Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly driving a Kmart Racing Team run Holden VY Commodore. It was the fifth consecutive victory for Holden, a new record. It was Murphy's third victory in the race and Kelly became the youngest driver to win the race, eclipsing the previous record set by Craig Lowndes in 1996.

On Saturday Murphy also recorded the fastest lap in the circuits history to take pole position during the Top Ten Shootout. The time stood as the fastest ever in a V8 Supercar for 7 years until Craig Lowndes lapped barely a few hundredths faster in practice during the 2010 event, although neither are officially recognised as the lap record as only race laps contribute to lap records.

* Greg Murphy became the first New Zealand born driver to actually set pole position for the Bathurst 1000. Murphy and fellow Kiwi racers Jim Richards and Paul Radisich had previously been on pole position for the race, but on each of those occasions it was their Australian co-driver who had set the pole winning time. Murphy's time of 2:06.8594 was the first time a touring car had gone under 2:07.00 for a lap of the 6.213 km (3.861 mi) circuit and was suitably dubbed the "Lap of the Gods".

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