Australian GP may start later in 2009

The organizers of the Australian GP issued a statement today where it is made clear that they ar willing to compromise with Bernie Ecclestone's wishes to organise a night race. The organisers are willing to start the 2009 Australian GP at 5pm (6am GMT).

This Sunday, the start of the Australian GP has been moved from 2pm to 3:30pm which means that most European viewers can watch the race from 5:30am.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Ron Walker said: "If starting the race later this year increases the television audience around the world, as we believe it will, we'll seek a 5:00pm start for the 2009 race.

"That will mean a 7:00am start time for the television coverage in Europe, finishing at about 8.40am; a 6:00am start time in the UK, finishing at about 7.40am; and an afternoon start and finish across the Asian continent where there are potentially hundreds of millions of extra viewers. All this can be achieved without any additional infrastructure costs."