Grand Prix to slug it out
with Football
1-March-2005The Heraldsun
London cabbie Tony Hill loves to chat to his customers and now has something else to talk about besides the weather and politics. Mr Hill is one of 175 London cabbies whose taxis have become mobile advertisements for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. He and five colleagues are in Melbourne for a week to learn more about the city and Victoria so they can become ambassadors for the Games back home. Premier Steve Bracks welcomed the cabbies: "London cabbies are renowned for their driving skills, local knowledge and willingness to strike up a conversation. Who better to promote the Commonwealth Games, Melbourne and Victoria in the UK?"
The 2006 Formula One Grand Prix is on a collision course with the AFL. Grand Prix Chairman Ron Walker yesterday cconfirmed next year's race would most likely be on the weekend of April 28-30 to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. The games -touted as the biggest event to hit melbourne since the 1956 Olympics- will be from March 15-26.
But the date shift locks the Grand prix into a head-to-head clash. Mr Walker will fly to London next week hopping to lock in the April date with Formula One officials. He was confident the clash would not be an issue."That's not going to bother us so much. It may bother them but I think there's a mixture of the demographics"He said.
The date change of the Australian Grand Prix, traditionnally the first race of the season, will almost certainly cause a major reshuffle of the F1 calendar. This year the formula One Carnival will travel to Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain and San Marino for the first four races. "It could be that Malaysia goes the first but I don't want to speculate because it's more (Formula One Supremo) Bernie Ecclestone's domain"Mr Walker said.
The move also throws Channel 10, which holds the exclusive broadcast rights to the Grand Prix and AFL, into a dilemma. Ten's sport manager David White said it was too early to speculate on the programming clash. AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the league might look at how many games it could move away from Melbourne that weekend. The grand Prix hits Albert Park this year from March 3-6.
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