FILE: MOTOR RACING - The Renault F1 team announces it will not contest race-fixing charges as boss Flavio Briatore and engineering head Pat Symonds leave

Record ID: 722199

  • Title: FILE: MOTOR RACING - The Renault F1 team announces it will not contest race-fixing charges as boss Flavio Briatore and engineering head Pat Symonds leave
  • Date: 17th September 2009
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (SEPTEMBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) BRIATORE'S SHOP IN SLOANE STREET, KNIGHTSBRIDGE VARIOUS OF SHOP JOURNALIST READING RENAULT WEBSITE SCREEN ANNOUNCING RENAULT STATEMENT CLOSE UP OF STATEMENT
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ZA4DKASSQ3V820IOY6C500O4
  • Story Text: Renault parted company with flamboyant Formula One team boss Flavio Briatore and his deputy Pat Symonds on Wednesday (September 16) after accepting allegations that last year's Singapore Grand Prix was fixed.
    The two men were due to appear before the governing FIA in Paris on Monday to face charges, unprecedented even in a sport often mired in controversy, that the team ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately in Singapore a year ago to help Spanish team mate Fernando Alonso win.
    Renault said in a statement via the team's website (www.ing-renaultf1.com) they would not dispute the allegations.
    The FIA can impose various penalties for fraudulent conduct including kicking a team out of the championship.
    Piquet, 24, was dropped by Renault in August and has testified to the FIA that he was told when and where to crash during the sport's first night race in Singapore.
    Renault and Briatore had in turn accused the Brazilian and his father, a triple world champion and namesake, of false allegations and attempted blackmail.
    Italian Briatore led the team to two Formula One constructors' and drivers' championships with Alonso in 2005 and 2006 after also winning titles with Benetton and Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995.
    A business partner of Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, with the two co-owning English second division soccer club Queen's Park Rangers, Briatore was also a leading figure in the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) and owns a fashion shop in London's upmarket Knightsbridge.
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