View source for 2003 Lexmark Indy 300

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2011}}
{{American Championshp Car race report infobox
| Country        = Australia
| Race           = Surfers Paradise
| Image          = Surfers Paradise Street Circuit.svg
| Caption        = Track map of the Surfers Paradise street circuit at Surfers Paradise, Australia.
| Date           = 26 October
| Year           = 2003
| Official name  = [[Nikon Indy 300|Lexmark Indy 300]]
| Race_No        = 18
| Season_No      = 19
| Series         = CART
| Location       = [[Surfers Paradise Street Circuit]]<br>[[Queensland]], Australia
| Course         = Temporary Street Circuit
| Course_mi      = 2.795
| Course_km      = 4.498
| Distance_laps  = 47
| Distance_mi    = 131.365
| Distance_km    = 211.406
| Weather        = Thunderstorms with temperatures reaching up to {{convert|27.4|C|F}}<ref>[http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=122&p_display_type=dailyDataFile&p_startYear=2003&p_c=-332340403&p_stn_num=040764 Weather information for the ''2003 Lexmark Indy 300''] at the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology Website</ref>
| Pole_Driver    = [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
| Pole_Team      = [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]
| Pole_Time      = 1:31.718
| Pole_Country   = FRA
| Fast_Driver    = [[Roberto Moreno]]
| Fast_Team      = [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]
| Fast_Time      = 1:35.561
| Fast_Lap       = 10
| Fast_Country   = BRA
| First_Driver   = [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
| First_Team     = [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| First_Country  = USA
| Second_Driver  = [[Darren Manning]]
| Second_Team    = [[Walker Racing]]
| Second_Country = GBR
| Third_Driver   = [[Jimmy Vasser]]
| Third_Team     = [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| Third_Country  = USA
}}

The '''[[Nikon Indy 300|2003 Lexmark Indy 300]]''' was the eighteenth last race of the [[2003 CART World Series season]], held on 26 October 2003 on the [[Surfers Paradise Street Circuit]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].  A [[hail]] storm 20 minutes into the race caused an hour long red flag period and shortened the race to 47 laps from the scheduled 65.

[[Ryan Hunter-Reay]] won the race, his first victory in top-level American open wheel racing, and [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]]'s final win in CART competition (sweeping the podium positions). Neither of the two drivers who could still win the season championship, leader [[Paul Tracy]] and second-place [[Bruno Junqueira]], finished in the Top 12 points-paying positions (though Junqueira received two bonus points on the weekend: one for having the fastest lap in Friday qualifying, and the other for leading the most laps in the race), meaning Tracy had a big enough lead to clinch the championship with one race to go.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/paul-tracy-clinches-cart-championship-1.360170 CBC.ca: Paul Tracy clinches CART championship]</ref>

==Final CART event==
The event was to have been the penultimate race of the 2003 season, but it later became the final round after the [[2003 King Taco 500]] was canceled because of a [[Old Fire (2003)|wildfire]] near to the [[California Speedway]] venue.  In December 2003 the [[Champ Car|CART World Series]] declared [[bankruptcy]] and as a result went out of business. Therefore, this race became the final completed CART sanctioned event, although the series would be reborn under new ownership as the Champ Car World Series in [[2004 Champ Car season|2004]].

==Qualifying results==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Nat
! Driver
! Team
! Car
! Qual 1
! Qual 2
! Best
|-
! 1
| {{flagicon|France}}
| [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
| [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:33.321
| ''1:31.718''
| '''1:31.718'''
|-
! 2
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Bruno Junqueira]]
| Newman-Haas Racing
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| ''1:32.708''
| 1:31.994
| '''1:31.994'''
|-
! 3
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Paul Tracy]]
| [[Forsythe Championship Racing|Team Player's]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.161
| 1:32.000
| '''1:32.000'''
|-
! 4
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Alex Tagliani]]
| [[Rocketsports Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| align=center|-
| 1:32.135
| '''1:32.135'''
|-
! 5
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Adrian Fernández]]
| [[Fernández Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:33.668
| 1:32.436
| '''1:32.436'''
|-
! 6
| {{flagicon|Spain}}
| [[Oriol Servià]]
| [[Patrick Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.317
| 1:32.731
| '''1:32.731'''
|-
! 7
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Roberto Moreno]]
| [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.313
| 1:32.732
| '''1:32.732'''
|-
! 8
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Mario Domínguez]]
| Herdez Competition
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:35.017
| 1:32.908
| '''1:32.908'''
|-
! 9
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
| [[Team Rahal]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.447
| 1:33.112
| '''1:33.112'''
|-
! 10
| {{flagicon|Finland}}
| [[Mika Salo]]
| [[KV Racing|PK Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:35.506
| 1:33.187
| '''1:33.187'''
|-
! 11
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Patrick Carpentier]]
| Team Player's
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.808
| 1:33.437
| '''1:33.437'''
|-
! 12
| {{flagicon|USA}}
| [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
| [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:36.398
| 1:33.542
| '''1:33.542'''
|-
! 13
| {{flagicon|Portugal}}
| [[Tiago Monteiro]]
| [[Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing]]
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:35.379
| 1:33.857
| '''1:33.857'''
|-
! 14
| {{flagicon|UK}}
| [[Darren Manning]]
| [[Walker Racing]]
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:35.425
| 1:33.922
| '''1:33.922'''
|-
! 15
| {{flagicon|USA}}
| [[Jimmy Vasser]]
| American Spirit Team Johansson
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:34.266
| 1:35.425
| '''1:34.266'''
|-
! 16
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Mario Haberfeld]]
| [[Mi-Jack Conquest Racing]]
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:35.821
| 1:34.299
| '''1:34.299'''
|-
! 17
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Gualter Salles]]
| [[Dale Coyne Racing]]
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| 1:36.495
| 1:34.646
| '''1:34.646'''
|-
! 18
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Rodolfo Lavín]]
| Walker Racing
| [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] 02i [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| align=center|-
| 1:36.075
| '''1:36.075'''
|-
! 19
| {{flagicon|USA}}
| [[Geoff Boss]]
| Dale Coyne Racing
| [[Lola Racing Cars|Lola]] B2/00 [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-[[Cosworth]]
| align=center|-
| 1:37.247
| '''1:37.247'''
|}

==Race==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Team !! Laps !! Time/retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 31
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
| [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| 47
| 1:49:02.803
| 12
| '''20'''
|-
! 2
| 15
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Darren Manning]]
| [[Walker Racing]]
| 47
| +1.546 secs
| 14
| '''16'''
|-
! 3
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Jimmy Vasser]]
| American Spirit Team Johansson
| 47
| +3.792 secs
| 15
| '''14'''
|-
! 4
| 9
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
| [[Team Rahal]]
| 47
| +5.315 secs
| 9
| '''12'''
|-
! 5
| 32
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Patrick Carpentier]]
| [[Forsythe Championship Racing|Team Player's]]
| 47
| +5.837 secs
| 11
| '''10'''
|-
! 6
| 19
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Gualter Salles]]
| [[Dale Coyne Racing]]
| 47
| +8.180 secs
| 17
| '''8'''
|-
! 7
| 33
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Alex Tagliani]]
| [[Rocketsports Racing]]
| 47
| +10.131 secs
| 4
| '''6'''
|-
! 8
| 5
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Rodolfo Lavín]]
| Walker Racing
| 47
| +11.673 secs
| 18
| '''5'''
|-
! 9
| 11
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Geoff Boss]]
| Dale Coyne Racing
| 47
| +50.728 secs
| 19
| '''4'''
|-
! 10
| 55
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Mario Domínguez]]
| [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]
| 46
| + 1 Lap
| 8
| '''3'''
|-
! 11
| 27
| {{flagicon|Finland}} [[Mika Salo]]
| [[KV Racing|PK Racing]]
| 46
| + 1 Lap
| 10
| '''2'''
|-
! 12
| 51
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Adrian Fernández]]
| [[Fernández Racing]]
| 46
| + 1 Lap
| 5
| '''1'''
|-
! 13
| 3
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Paul Tracy]]
| Team Player's
| 45
| + 2 Laps
| 3
| '''0'''
|-
! 14
| 34
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Mario Haberfeld]]
| [[Mi-Jack Conquest Racing]]
| 43
| + 4 Laps
| 16
| '''0'''
|-
! 15
| 1
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Bruno Junqueira]]
| [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]
| 36
| Contact
| 2
| '''2'''
|-
! 16
| 4
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Roberto Moreno]]
| Herdez Competition
| 23
| Contact
| 7
| '''0'''
|-
! 17
| 2
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
| Newman-Haas Racing
| 11
| Contact
| 1
| '''1'''
|-
! 18
| 7
| {{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Tiago Monteiro]]
| [[Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing]]
| 3
| Mechanical
| 13
| '''0'''
|-
! 19
| 20
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Oriol Servià]]
| [[Patrick Racing]]
| 1
| Contact
| 6
| '''0'''
|}

==Caution flags==
{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !!Cause
|-
|1 || Yellow start
|-
|2 || [[Oriol Servià|Servià (20)]] contact
|-
|11-13 || [[Sébastien Bourdais|Bourdais (2)]] contact
|-
|14-15 || Restart after red flag (rain)
|-
|16-17 || [[Mika Salo|Salo (27)]] spun/stalled
|-
|19-20 || [[Paul Tracy|Tracy (3)]], [[Alex Tagliani|Tagliani (33)]], [[Darren Manning|Manning (15)]], [[Gualter Salles|Salles (19)]] & [[Roberto Moreno|Moreno (4)]] contact
|-
|31-34 || [[Alex Tagliani|Tagliani (33)]] & [[Mario Haberfeld|Haberfeld (34)]] spun/stalled; [[Mario Domínguez|Domínguez (55)]] loose wheel
|-
|37-39 || [[Bruno Junqueira|Junqueira (1)]] & [[Mario Haberfeld|Haberfeld (34)]] contact; [[Mario Haberfeld|Haberfeld (34)]] stopped on course
|-
|41-42 || [[Adrian Fernández|Fernández (51)]] spun/stalled
|}

==Notes==
{|
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !!Leader
|-
|1-29 || [[Bruno Junqueira]]
|-
|30-32 || [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
|-
|33-47 || [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
|}
|width="50"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Driver !! Laps led
|-
|[[Bruno Junqueira]] || 29
|-
|[[Ryan Hunter-Reay]] || 15
|-
|[[Michel Jourdain Jr.]] || 2
|}
|}

* '''New Race Record''' [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]] 1:49:02.803
* '''Average Speed''' 72.280&nbsp;mph

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://archive.today/20130119004010/http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/ResultsIndex.asp?ID=463 Full Weekend Times & Results]

{{CART World Series race report|
 Name_of_race = [[Nikon Indy 300|2003 Lexmark Indy 300]] |
 Year_of_race = 2003 |
 Previous_race_in_season = [[2003 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante]] |
 Next_race_in_season = [[2003 King Taco 500]] |
 Previous_year's_race = [[2002 Honda Indy 300]] |
 Next_year's_race = [[2004 Lexmark Indy 300]]
}}

{{Coord|27|59|17.9|S|153|25|42.1|E|type:event_region:AU-QLD|display=title}}

[[Category:2003 in Australian motorsport|Lexmark Indy 300]]
[[Category:2003 in CART|Lexmark Indy 300]]
[[Category:Gold Coast Indy 300]]