 Melbourne is to be reinstated as the season's opening race |
The Australian Grand Prix will be restored next year as the opening Formula One fixture of the season. Melbourne organisers said the city is to host the opening race on 18 March 2007, pending confirmation from motorsport's governing body, the FIA.
The race was moved to third in the calendar for 2006 to avoid clashing with the Commonwealth Games, with Bahrain hosting the opening Grand Prix.
The move comes despite a clash with the 2007 World Swimming Championships.
Victorian state officials insist they are not expecting logistical problems because of the clash with the swimming event.
Tourism Minister John Pandazopoulos said: "All issues will be resolved and there's no city in the world that can handle two major events back to back except Melbourne."
Melbourne hosted the opening race of the F1 series between 1996 and 2005.
And Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker hailed its return.
"To be reinstated as the championship's opening race is great news for the people of Australia who continue to embrace this event," he said.
Walker revealed, however, that there were times in negotiations that he feared the venue would lose its first-race status.
But he believed that its role in training organisers for other race events and its relationship with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone were telling factors in the decision.
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