This year the VRC was sponsored by RACEtech Steel. With three wins and a second placing, Mike Reeves and Robin Smalley ran out clear winners in their Lancer Evo 3. There closest challengers were Mark Fawcett / Kylie Evans and Peter Montgomery / Chris Montgomery, both in Subaru WRXs and with a round win apiece.
To see what else happened during 2003 in Victorian rallying, go to the 2003 year page.
To see other years of the Victorian Rally Championship, got to the VRC page.
These were specified in the VRC Standing Regulations.
The VRC was made up exclusively of Special Stage events with competitive distances between 50 and 230 km.
Eligible vehicles were PRC, Group N and Historic Rally Cars.
Awards were made for outright champions, 2WD, Clubman (re-introduced this year and for 2WD cars only) and Novice (sponsored by Peddars and known as the Peddars No Bull Award). There were also car class awards as follows: PRC up to 1400cc, PRC 1401-1600cc, PRC 1601-2000cc, PRC 2WD over 2000cc, PRC 4WD over 2000cc (split into two classes, pre and post 1991) , Group N under 1400cc, Group N 1401-1600cc, Group N 1601-2000cc, Group N over 2000cc and Historic Rally Cars.
All awards were allocated 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for first to tenth. Four out of five results to count. Series Registration was introduced back in 1994 and only registered competitors were eligible for points. However, bona fide Victorian competitors were automatically recognised as registered! All awards required competitors to complete in at least 50% of the events.
There were 5 VRC events in 2003. Rally of Melbourne was calendared as a joint ARC/VRC round but appears to have not been a VRC round. There was some suggestion that the Begonia Rally would be resurrected but this did not appear to happen. The Akademos was postponed from May to November, so becoming the final round.
PRC under 1400cc: Brad Sanders / Belinda Sanders, Suzuki Swift
PRC 1401-1600cc: Matthew Douglas / Adam Douglas, Toyota Sprinter
PRC 1601-2000cc: Andrew Vibert / David Gallacher, Toyota Corolla TE37
PRC 2WD over 2000cc: Brian Shand / Geoff Floyd, Mitsubishi Starion
PRC4WD over 2000cc post 1990: Mike Reeves / Robin Smaller, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3
PRC 4WD over 2000cc pre 1991: Justin Dowell / Matt Lee, Toyota Celica GT4
Group N under 1400cc: not awarded
Group N 1401-1600cc: not awarded
Group N: 1601-2000cc: not awarded
Group N over 2000cc: Danny Murphy / Ross Lilley, Subaru Impreza Sti
HRC: Ralph Price / Selwyn Lahey, Volvo 144 GT