Hamburg  - The 2009 Formula One season sees a raft of rule changes with the driver's championship decided by number of race wins, tighter aerodynamic regulations, the return of slick tyres, the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) and the end of in-season testing.

The most comprehensive rule changes in recent years are all part of the sport's attempt to make racing more entertaining while also cutting costs in an effort to ride out the global economic crisis.

Melbourne  - Starting the Formula 1 season in Australia is almost a tradition. However, the fact of being a classic could turn against a Grand Prix at represents the "old order" in troubled times of change.

The top category of motorsport has been travelling "down under" since 1985, but the Australian Grand Prix has only been based in Melbourne since 1996. Since then, with one exception, the Victoria state capital always opened the season for the Formula 1 circus.

Rio de Janeiro  - Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa is out to show in 2009 that he has the stuff of champions and to prove wrong those who say he is not good enough to get beyond the position of perennial second driver at Ferrari.

When he joined the Italian scuderia in 2006, Ferrari boss Jean Todt said a low profile could be his new driver's main problem.

"Felipe is a great guy. He has a good spirit, he's a team player, he's humble, he's shy - probably too humble and too shy in this business, because he's not rated as he should be," Todt said.

Hamburg  - It has probably never been more difficult to predict the outcome of a Formula One season as this year.

A question mark hangs over world champion Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren-Mercedes team who have struggled in testing, while newcomers Brawn GP - successor to Honda - are suddenly seen as a serious threat.

The 2009 season looks like being a real pointer to where Formula One is heading from both a sporting and economic perspective.

Taipei - Two NBA teams will visit Taiwan and China in October to play warm-up games before the start of the NBA season, a newspaper said Thursday.

The Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers will play a preseason game on October 8 at the Taipei Arena. Taiwan's basketball association next month will announce details of the game, the Apple Daily quoted an unnamed sports official as saying.

The two teams will send a total of 30 players, including Denver forward Carmelo Anthony, Indiana forward Danny Granger and NBA legend Larry Bird, now the Pacers' president of basketball operations.

Berlin - IAAF president Lamine Diack says he is against the idea of reducing the length of the athletics world championships from nine to six days as demanded by media broadcasters.

"I am against it. We have the world championships for the

athletes, not for television," Diack told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Berlin, where this year's championships take place August 15-23.