Little to stand down as Aus GP chair

Australian Grand Prix Corporation chair Paul Little is expected to stand down from his role after a four-year stint.

As reported in the Tuesday, July 11 edition of THE AGE newspaper, anonymous sources have confirmed Little will stand down, having not been reappointed as chair of the board.

A replacement is yet to be announced after the former Essendon Football Club president took on the role at the corporation that oversees the Formula 1 and MotoGP Australian Grands Prix.

Little replaced John Harnden as chair of the Australian Grand Prix and is one of just three to be in the position during the Melbourne era of the race with Ron Walker performing the role for over two decades.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott and chair Paul Little front the media after the unexpected cancellation of the 2020 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Photo by Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

If this comes to fruition, it will be the second major change at the head of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation in a matter of months.

The long-standing CEO Andrew Westacott overlooked his last Grand Prix in charge in April and it has been Little who has led the race to find a replacement.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation appointed an interim chief executive, in June, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s legal and general counsel manager Dale Nardella.

On that front AFL Chief Financial Officer and Manager of Broadcasting, Clubs and Fixtures, Travis Auld, is tipped to be the frontrunner.

Under the terms of the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994, the Victorian government must approves AGPC appointments, and Auld is seen as a formality in this case.

But when asked about the departure of Little, a Victorian Government spokesperson told THE AGE “any appointments to the Australian Grand Prix will be made in the usual way.”

A potential candidate to replace Little could be former Labor minister Martin Pakula, who has attended many Australian Grands Prix and presented trophies on the podium.

Martin Pakula (right) chats with former Formula 1 chair Chase Carey at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Photo by Steven Tee / LAT Images

However, Pakula shutdown speculation in a short statement.

“I don’t know whether there are any current vacancies on the AGPC board, nor what the minister has in mind for it, but I have not been offered any role and I have not accepted any role,” it read.

Formula 1 has released the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar and has confirmed the Australian Grand Prix will be the third GP of the year and will run over March 22-24th 2024.

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

Auto Action, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

Photo by LAT Images / Dirk Klynsmith

PODCAST: The latest episode of the Auto Action RevLimiter podcast is out now!

Shane van Gisbergen went to Chicago to have some fun and a job interview. He had fun, won and aced the job interview. Andrew Clarke was there for the historic win, and Bruce Williams and Paul Gover dig into the significance of it all with Clarke.

Then we look Supercars and the parity war, what changes are coming? Then F1, which needs more changes than any Motorsport on the planet.

Listen on your podcast app of choice or here on the Auto Action RevLimiter podcast.