Practice 1: Rain intervenes in Oz

On a circuit that started slightly damp, most drivers managed to get a handful of laps in before heavy rain forced them to return to the pits.

With the weather set to improve over the next two days, few teams risked turning laps on the extremely wet track. Ironically, the Surfers Paradise travel brochures boast of "sun that is out 340 days of the year..."

Cristiano da Matta was one of the frontrunners who did make it out onto the temporary street circuit, but the Brazilian spun his Newman-Haas Lola and brought out the red flag. No-one turned any laps in the final 35 minutes when the track went green again.

Jimmy Vasser topped the unrepresentative times with title contender Helio Castroneves second and Adrian Fernandez third. Alex Barron, making his 2002 debut in place of Max Wilson in the Sigma team, was 13th.

Neither of the lead title hopefuls, Gil de Ferran or Kenny Brack, were in the top 18, more than 10 secs off of Vasser's pace.