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F1: Flavio Briatore Lifetime Motorsport Ban Overturned

THE LIFETIME motorsport ban handed down to Flavio Briatore by the FIA in September last year has been overturned by a French court which has today reversed the penalty.
Briatore had been suspended after it was revealed he had ordered Renault F1


THE LIFETIME motorsport ban handed down to Flavio Briatore by the FIA in September last year has been overturned by a French court which has today reversed the penalty.

Briatore had been suspended after it was revealed he had ordered Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash his car to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

The former Renault F1 boss subsequently took legal action to have the ban overturned and his name cleared.

The French court ruled this week that Briatore had not been given an opportunity to argue his case during the FIA inquiry, with the ban decided on the basis of an anonymous testimony.

"[It is] almost an exceptional outcome," Briatore's lawyer, Philippe Ouakrat said after the hearing.

"We are in a situation in which Mr. Briatore is reinstated in all his capacities to act in Formula One or motor sports."

Briatore will not be able to return to the motorsport world immediately, however, with the FIA expected to appeal.

Renault F1, which received a suspended ban for its part in the incident, announced Team France A1GP team principal Eric Boullier had been confirmed as Briatore's replacement.

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