Skaife had a shocker of a weekend, an omen for Adelaide.

Before the thousands had spewed onto the streets of Albert Park to celebrate another Melbourne GP win by Michael Schumacher, Jason Bright was doing his best to prove he wasn’t an inconsistent runner-up, who could be easily overlooked. His new VY Commodore was a rocket, just as it had been at Winton in testing earlier in the week, and being dismissed as a contender by the reigning Champion had stung him into action.

He made his point, he poked his finger into the chests of his rivals and left a bruising. If there is one message to take away from Melbourne, it is that Bright will very much be in the picture.

GRM showed it was back on track after a strong performance.

The Grand Prix meeting may only be foreplay, but ask anyone what they think of that act. This meeting is serious business – there may not be championship points, but there is a lot of prestige. And to top it off, the drivers are unchained by the shackles of the series ... make a mistake and drop a spot and you don’t lose that vital championship point.

Commodores dominated this race meeting. Bright had speed, Murphy had speed, Richards had speed, Tander had speed, Skaife and Toddler had speed ... and there were Marcos Ambrose and ‘Big’ Paul Radisich, two bluebirds in a sea of red, with Bargs chipping in at the end. All nine podiums fell to Holden drivers, with two wins to Bright and one to Murphy.

Jason Richards changed teams in the off-season and debuted at the AGP for the new Tasman team.

"I think this is a good tease for the rest of the year, but it isn’t going to be a guide for the season," Murphy said after claiming pole with yet another stunning Top 10 Shootout lap.

It set the running order for the weekend though, the Shootout order being Murphy, Skaife, Bright, Ambrose, Richards, Tander, Rick Kelly, Radisich, Todd Kelly and Simon Wills.

Rick Kelly's battered Kmart Commodore after a clash between himself and Ingall.

Skaife won the start of the first race from the inside line, Murphy tucked onto his tail and applied the pressure. On the second lap Murphy looked up the inside of Skaife at Turn 3 and contact sent Skaife spinning out of the lead.

Murphy said Skaife jumped on the brakes early, Skaife said that was his patented technique for winning five-championships. We assume he had his tongue in his cheek.

Bargs showed promise for '04

Regardless, the stewards paid no attention to the incident and Murphy charged to the flag ahead of Bright. Marcos Ambrose also spun in his first outing with #1 on the door, turning his car sideways to avoid driving through Bright after brake fade set in. Tander took up the running to signal a positive start to the year for GRM, with new teammate Cam McConville the best of the ‘switchers’ in 11th.

The Saturday race was the longest in the history of the V8s here – pity it fizzed. Brighty jumped away at the start and that was it ... except for Ambrose retiring with an overheating engine after collecting a mouthful of Albert Park leaves.

Point of impact-Skaife and Murphy argue over the same bit of track.

Back to the shorter races and back to action for Sunday, although Bright won this one too. What was interesting was that another Holden took up the running to pressure him; this time it was Steve Richards with Tander on his hammer. Murphy was next, with Bargs an impressive fifth in his Falcon.

Ambrose’s drive in the final was stunning, coming from the rear of the field to 10th – a lap or two more and he said he would have been hunting a podium. “I was hustling, but I had a good car to work with,” Ambrose said after his amazing rum. “I love that sort of stuff, that is one of the most enjoyable races I have had in a V8 Supercar.”

Lessons we learned: