Motor racing-Court defers ruling on Van der Garde's drive demand

MELBOURNE, March 9 (Reuters) - The legal judgment on Giedo van der Garde's attempt to force the Sauber team to let him drive for them in the upcoming Formula One season has been reserved until Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the Australian state of Victoria said on Monday. The case was heard on Monday in Melbourne but a decision will not be handed down until 10 AM local time on Wednesday (2300 GMT Tuesday), two days before the first free practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Dutchman was a test driver for the Swiss team last season and is claiming Sauber reneged on a deal to give him a race seat in 2015. A Swiss arbitration tribunal had ordered the team to refrain from taking action to deprive Van der Garde from taking part in the 2015 season as one of the team's two nominated race drivers. The 29-year-old driver brought an application to Supreme Court of Victoria to enforce the tribunal's decision. "Judgment reserved in F1 driver Giedo van der Garde dispute against Sauber, to Wed, 10am," read a message posted on the court's official Twitter feed. Sauber, who failed to score a point last season, have signed Sweden's Marcus Ericsson and Brazilian Felipe Nasr as their race drivers, with Italian Raffaele Marciello as reserve for 2015. (Writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Patrick Johnston)