MOTORSPORT: Who and what do we believe?

Firstly, though, something we'd like to believe, and, secondly, something we're pleased to believe.

What we'd like to believe is the weather forecast we've seen for Kuala Lumpur this weekend, with thunderstorms both afternoons.

We've already had a pretty fine race to get the Formula 1 season underway in Melbourne last weekend, but the prospect of a wet Malaysian Grand Prix is tantalising.

Let's hope the KL weather people have got it right.

Even if they have, though, the pity will be that the vast majority of Australian F1 watchers -- and perhaps virtually all, except those who venture to Sepang itself or have other particularly smart technical means -- won't get to see the race until late at night.

The race starts late afternoon, Australian eastern time, but in our TV guide the telecast on Channel 10 starts at 11pm Sunday.

We thought 10 was going to be showing the F1 races live on its HD (high-definition) channel, but our TV guide makes no mention of that for this Malaysian race -- although it mentions HD programming that is different to the normal Channel 10.

We might just sneak down to a little pub we know that has the races live courtesy of a technical tweak that taps it into the live telecast as seen in Hong Kong.

If we don't get there, whatever time it is we get to see it we're going to be on full throttle for a race in the rain.

Remember last year's Japanese GP? And what a good spectacle it made? Even if our boy Mark Webber got inadvertently punted out of the race.

Might another wet race reverse Webber's dreadful Melbourne fortunes?

Let's hope so.

The Australian reports today that there will be no coronial inquest into Brock's death more than 18 months ago now in the 2006 Targa West.

WA coroner Alastair Hope's two-page record of investigation into the tragedy has reportedly been sent to Brock's family, who said they did not want a coronial inquest in case it became an exercise in blame.

While this is the first public mention of this official "closure", certainly as far as we know, we understand that the coroner's correspondence with the family was actually some months ago.

Whatever, we feel a sense of relief that just what caused the passing of the greatest hero Australian motorsport has had will not have to become a matter of any public dispute.

Those closest to Brocky seem willing to accept that he died as a result of an accident.

There were questions raised about the wisdom of a driver of even Brock's talents and co-driver Mick Hone starting the event without having done reconnaissance, instead relying on pace notes they'd acquired for $300, and questions may have been asked about the suitability of the Cobra Daytona they were in.

The Australian reports that it obtained coroner Hope's findings and they did not establish whether water, gravel or oil interfered with the car as it rounded a sweeping, sloping left-hand bend, as speculated by some witnesses at the crash scene.

Hope said Brock was driving at 136kmh as he approached the bend and entered the corner at 110kmh, running off the road and hitting a tree.

"On impact the deceased received massive internal injuries and died at the scene," Hope said.

"A post-mortem examination established the cause of death to be multiple injuries."

Brock's brother, Lewis, told The Australian he was not comfortable releasing the part of Hope's record of investigation addressing what the MoTeC data had revealed, but he said the coroner did not use the phrase "driver error".

Lewis Brock said it was important to him that no individual or organisation was blamed over Peter Perfect's death, which he believed would not have occurred if a different part of the car had hit the tree.

Tarmac rally organisers have since changed rules for competitors, making it compulsory for competitors to have driven a course before an event, and there is greater vigilance on the types of cars suitable for such rallies.

There's no need for anything to be brushed under any carpet, but we think that's enough and that the great man ought to be allowed to rest in peace -- and that we ought to just enjoy our memories of him.

We've seen reports this week of research by the Sports Business Group at the big accounting and consulting firm Deloitte that apparently reckons a Formula 1 grand prix is worth US$217 million -- or about A$230 million -- to any city hosting one.

Sounds impressive, doesn't it?

That's a fairly healthy increment on the A$175 million we seem to recall for the last economic benefits study done -- in 2005, if our memory is correct -- on the Australian GP at Melbourne's Albert Park.

Now, although your author was the only kid in the class to get 10 out of 10 for arthimetic one time in grade three or four, we're happy to admit that Deloitte would have many better mathematicians than us.

However -- and this is without having had the chance to see the Deloitte report or even the press release about it, just some reports on the research -- we think we can see a flaw in this work.

The Deloittes people have calculated that there is US$3.9 billion a year swimming around the big F1 pool at the minute.

That may well be so.

But then, it appears to us, they have just divided that US$3.9 billion by 18, being the number of GPs on the calendar, to arrive at US$217 million -- and that has been projected as the average "revenue" of a GP.

Now, unless we're horribly misguided (and we are seeking clarification on all this), that is preposterous.

For starters, that method apportions the income of the teams to the various GP venues.

Most of the income of an F1 team, surely, is its slice of the sport's television broadcasting rights "pie" and sponsorship.

That money, or certainly most of it, goes towards building cars to go fast in GPs.

But that does not transfer that money into the pockets of the host venues of F1 races.

Some of a team's money will be spent on hospitality, accommodation, meals, etc in each of the GP venues -- but even in totality that spending in those places would be only a small fraction of an F1 team's annual budget.

The Deloitte report supposedly -- from our reading about it, rather than of it -- concludes that a GP is far more valuable to a city than any other major sporting event (presumably annual sporting events).

That may well be so. Happy to accept that.

But our distinct feeling here is that the methodology in arriving at the worth of a GP is overly simplistic, and flawed.

We'd be happy to be proved wrong, and if we are, we'll be happy to tell you, our readers, that have been.

The other thing that has set off alarm bells with us about this report is that it appears to be stating F1's global TV audience at 350 million viewers.

As we have repeatedly mentioned here, our belief is that 100 million is now a much more accepted tally of the average audience.

The Australian race would be below that average, because of it being -- despite last Sunday's 90-minute later start, and next year's proposed 90-minute later again start -- time-unfriendly in F1's European heartland.

The Monaco GP would normally be the most watched GP, although last year it looks as though the season-ending Brazilian race would have been, because of its three-way title fight to the wire -- the first in 21 years.

According to research by Initiative Sports Future, which we've mentioned here before, 78 million viewers saw that Brazilian race in its entirety, while 152 million saw at least 3 minutes of it.

Those numbers we are prepared to accept.

Sounds fair enough, Bernie, but what's the big problem been?

From what we've seen, the winner of the most races has been world champion every year since 1989, when Ayrton Senna won six GPs but lost out to four-race winner Alain Prost.

Nigel Mansell would also have been a three-time champion under Ecclestone's proposal, adding the 1986 and 1987 championships to his 1992 title.

Old Nige deserved a title in the end, but could the world have put up with him having three?

Ecclestone has said: "The key word in motor racing is 'racing', and right now there are not enough overtaking manoeuvres in the sport because drivers are happy not to take risks and claim second place because it is only two points less than winning the race.

"What I want to see is the winner of the most number of races as world champion, and second places only to be used if the top two finish the season with the same number of wins.

"I got a bit waylaid last season, what with all the (Spygate) business with McLaren and Ferrari, but it is my intention to push this idea through in the coming weeks.

"The constructors would keep the existing system."

More racing we'll always be happy to see, Bernie, but rewarding only winning drivers unless there are an equal number of winners is not going to do anything for competition down through the field.

We rarely doubt the great man's wisdom, but in this instance we wonder if -- now in his late 70s -- this is the first sign that he's losing it.

They claim the TV audience was up 7 per cent on the 2007 round at the Creek and 5 per cent on the second round of last year's championship in Perth.

The average audience in the five mainland capitals on the Sunday was 493,000.

That all sounds rather good so far, but we notice that on both the Saturday and Sunday there were more viewers in Adelaide and Brisbane than in Sydney and Melbourne.

That's a worrying sign, especially -- as we have repeatedly pointed out -- if the V8 Supercar organisers lose any circuits in the two biggest cities.

Octagon gets a gig with A1 GP
Changes in A1 GP, and we're not convinced of the wisdom of these either.

A1 began three years ago with, remember, the backing of an Arab sheik.

More recently it has been controlled by a diamond tycoon, Tony Texeira.

Now we learn that Octagon Worldwide is to "provide strategic advice around A1GP's current and future commercial strategy".

"Under the partnership, Octagon will also co-ordinate and execute the global sales process that will drive commercial value on behalf of A1GP across the globe. The appointment is for three years."

Presumably Texeira remains at the helm, with Octagon a more hands-on party.

A1 needs to reach new heights, and certainly we see potential in it.

But we seem to recall that Octagon was going to play a big role in the British F1 GP some years back but fairly quickly went away financially poorer and rather red-faced.

Correct us if we're wrong, but we just don't feel too comfortable about this move.

Some of the same old lines have been trotted out -- that it is to be the headquarters for a revived Rally Australia, that it might one day host the Australian F1 GP, perhaps even the Australian MotoGP.

We even saw Mick Doohan's name connected with the project this week.

Even that can't convince us that it's a goer.

Last year's very false start has made us very wary.

And a few other odds and ends

<<<Jean Todt, the Frenchman who managed Ferrari's F1 team so well for so long, has resigned as a full-time employee of the Italian manufacturer.

Todt will remain involved in a consulting, and part-time, basis -- with indications growing stronger that he is being set up to succeed Max Mosley as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. Todt has been a patron of Felipe Massa, but Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo is thought to want to get Fernando Alonso into the team.

<<<Scuderia Toro Rosso, the second F1 team of Red Bull billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, is on the market. Mateschitz is indicating that the sale only needs to happen for him by the 2010 season. Russian interests are being touted as the most likely buyer.

<<<The US GP, dropped this year after eight years at Indianapolis, could be back on the calendar next year. Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George has assigned an agency to find a major sponsor to help bear the cost.

<<<As we suggested a week ago, legal action could be imminent from Champ Car team operator Derrick Walker against Australian businessman/sponsor Craig Gore, who has taken the Team Australia brand -- and Aussie driver Will Power -- across to the Kevin Kalkhoven/Jimmy Vasser owned KV Racing in the IndyCar series. Power has been a pacesetter in pre-season testing this week.

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