FIA Confirms 2002 Australian Grand Prix

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, confirmed on Friday that the Australian Grand Prix will go ahead next month after deeming that the Melbourne circuit has met strict safety regulations.

The FIA exonerated themselves of any blame following the death of a marshal in last year's race by insisting that the Albert Park circuit was fit to hold the race and confirmed that Melbourne will host the season-opening Grand Prix on March 3.

But the coroner in charge of investigating the death of volunteer track marshal Graham Beveridge said that his injuries were "avoidable" in his inquest report.

52-year-old Beveridge was killed when a stray wheel from Jacques Villeneuve's BAR flew through gaps in a safety fence at Albert Park and coroner Graeme Johnstone said in his report that the death could have been prevented.

The FIA, however, issued a statement insisting that the circuit achieved the minimum safety standards and claimed that the 2002 race will go ahead as planned despite last year's tragedy.

"The FIA sets minimum standards, below which it will not authorise an international motor race," the statement said. "It anticipates that the Australian Grand Prix Corporation will continue to endeavour to exceed these standards."

The statement added: "The FIA can now finally confirm that the 2002 Australian Grand Prix will form part of the 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship."

The FIA statement claimed that they could not involve themselves in the inquiry into the death of Beveridge because "to do so on a worldwide basis would consume massive resources without necessarily producing any real progress in safety."

Johnstone, the coroner involved in the case, said: "In this case, those agencies responsible for organising the 2001 Australian Formula One Grand Prix motor race failed to satisfactorily manage the risk to marshals created by gaps in the debris fence.

"The issue of the potential for debris to go through the gap had been identified by CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport) years prior to the running of the 2001 event at Albert Park.

"The AGPC (Australian Grand Prix Corporation), through its chief executive officer, was aware of the gap issue. The eventual solution was not only obvious, it was practical and should have been in place before the racing incident at Albert Park. Mr Beveridge's death was avoidable."

Johnstone made 13 safety recommendations in the report including the implementation of a partial cage around the circuit and the appointment of a race safety officer. He also praised race organisers for improving safety since the fatal accident as AGPC chairman Ron Walker confirmed that this year's season-opener would go ahead as planned on March 3.

"Since the tragedy last March, a great deal of thought and effort has been expended on coming up with solutions to avoid such an occurrence again," Walker said in a statement. "Safety initiatives, independent of the coronial inquiry, had already been implemented for this year's race."