G'day all..
It certainly can be skipped. Go to the Gp3 Directory, and find the movies folder. Simply delete the intro movie. Everyone wins this way, you avoid ur problem, u save time starting up the game, and you get more room on ur hard drive.
And no, the game itself is not affected in any way by deleting this movie. IT simply moves to the next screen.
Alternatively, you could use GpxPatch, and click the option that allows you to skip the start up intro.
Lots of options!