Former F1 World Champion and the current boss of Australia’s A1GP team, Alan Jones, is working to get the series back to Sydney and has blamed the NSW government for failing to secure the event. A1GP’s increasing popularity has given it the newfound ability to charge a sanction fee, and with 24 participating nations competing to host one of the eleven rounds, NSW’s apathetic approach to the series means it will not make the list for the coming season.

Only one spot remaining
Three rounds of the A1GP calendar remain open, however two of the remaining trio are already scheduled to take place in China and South Africa with only the specific site within each country undetermined. The ninth round is still completely open, and that means Australia may yet have a chance to secure a spot on the calendar.

The March 29, 2009 event could be held at another site in Australia, though it will certainly be outside NSW. Melbourne holds several likely sites, given its intense involvement in national and international motorsports, but Jones refused to comment on which sites were being considered for business reasons.

A1 could replace F1 in Melbourne
Jones has previously recognised a strong possibility that Melbourne may not renew its F1 GP contract at Albert Park beyond 2010, however. Hosting a round of the A1GP World Series would cost only a fraction of the price of the F1 event. Since the A1GP series runs primarily in the F1 off season, the circuit could in theory host both events if organisers chose to do so, but Jones thinks the A1GP event could replace it entirely.

A1GP’s fourth season gets underway in September at Mugello, Italy, and will wrap up with the championship finale at Brands Hatch in the UK in May 2009.

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