Monday March 6th, 2000

With just 72 hours to go till first practice for Sunday's 2000 Australian Grand Prix, three teams have been kept waiting for their cars to arrive in Australia ­ by the weather.

The cars of the Arrows, Benetton and BAR teams are all aboard the third and final jumbo jet due to touch down later on Tuesday at Avalon Airport west of Melbourne. However, The cargo should have arrived a day or so ago, but Cyclone Steve's presence off the West Australian coast meant the flight had to divert to Singapore.

The flight is also carrying other freight belonging to a number of the teams whose cars are already safely housed in the Albert Park garages.

It should be noted, however, that whilst 'Steve' has caused problems in the west, the forecast is for sunny weather at Albert Park this weekend with fine conditions in the high 20°C.

In the mean time, the drivers who arrived at Australia earlier this week are getting geared up to enjoy their few days of vacation.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert are out at Sydney Harbour taking part in a special "Wet Bike" race - last year, Irvine was the winner of this race. Once the two get to Melbourne, the Jaguar Racing boys will be out to make a splash of a different kind. There's a specially-decorated Melbourne tram, for starters, and rumour has it that Jaguar Racing ­ coming into Formula One for the first time ­ are planning to paint the city British Racing Green.

The Sauber duo of Pedro Diniz and Mika Salo are also expected to be out on the water of Albert Park Lake for a photo call later on Tuesday, along with Minardi's Marc Gene and rookie Gaston Mazzacane who plan to visit Melbourne's Sports and Aquatic Centre.