Van der Garde gets green signal for Australian GP

An Australian state court has potentially cleared the way for Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde to compete in this weekend’s season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne after his legal challenge against Sauber was ruled successful, although the racing team has appealed the decision. The Dutch driver was challenging to get a spot in Sunday’s race with Swiss F1 team Sauber, which replaced him as a driver late last year. Sauber’s lawyers had argued van der Garde was an unacceptable risk because he wasn’t trained in the team’s car and he did not have a custom seat, but van der Garde’s lawyer Tom Clarke said his client was ready to work with the team to get a seat fitted before racing begins.