24/09/2009
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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Flavio Briatore made his money by selling Benetton franchises in America and I bet most of them have failed. I live in Chichester, which has a population of fewer than 30,000, it is not the world's greatest place to sell knitwear. Once, we had two Benetton shops in prime sites within 100 yards of each other. My understanding about franchises is that the franchisee pays for exclusivity and, to be fair, the Benetton shops were in different streets. They were also within 100 yards of each other.
They were selling knitwear and that is not a business all by itself. A further 100 yards on was a branch of Marks and Spencer selling knitwear of equal quality at a fraction of the price. By then we all knew that M&S was supplied by Pringle. No shop can survive on knitwear alone.
What happened to the Benetton shops? They went bust, of course. One would have struggled, two was a short route to bankruptcy, the business stank. This is why I am confident that most of the franchises that Briatore sold in the States went belly-up. Flav was in the States, incidentally, because Italy was too hot for him, there were two gaol sentences totalling four and a half years hanging over him for fraud. Later he swung immunity, a word he now appears to hate. How he was able to escape from the rulings of two courts is beyond me. It must be an Italian thing.
A story which will not go away is that Benetton was a front, a way of laundering money. Such stories go around the paddock, most Italian teams have been so associated and it is usually untrue. It was only when I saw how Benetton operated on the street, in my backyard, that I wondered whether there was any substance to the rumour.
The people who bought the franchises paid stiff money and they had to take leaseholds on the shops which were in prime locations. The rental in Chichester is close to that in London's West End, Chichester being the county town of a very affluent area. Then the suckers, I mean franchisees, had to buy the stock and there was no choice of supplier.
This scenario was repeated all over the place. Suckers were persuaded to part with serious money to sell over-priced knitwear on the grounds that it had 'brand'. The idea of 'brand' came from the Harvard Business School along with the MBA, which is equally useless. The MBA is a money-making scam and all these serious business people fall for it.
Benetton was always a questionable business, knitwear does not generate much margin and Benetton was trying to establish itself against market leaders like Lacoste. I do not understand the attraction of designer labels. When I went for an eye test someone tried to sell me Jaguar frames. My response was, 'When Jaguar learns once more how to design cars, it may get my attention.'
The team now known as Renault began as Toleman. Ted Toleman and his brother built up a company shifting new cars from the makers to the dealers. Double-decker transporters with 'Toleman' writ prominent were once a familiar sight on English roads, nobody needed to ask how Ted Toleman made his money. Ted had spotted a niche and went for it. When he tired of wasting money on F1, he wasted money on off-shore power boat racing. It was his money and I have never heard a whisper against Ted Toleman. Ted was not in the least bit flash.
Flav has always been flash, he likes to be seen with supermodels. If I want spectacular arm candy for a function, I can contact a model agency and book a dame. Nothing else is implied, but a stunning woman will appear in my company for an agreed length of time. Models are Looks For Hire, that is what they do, and I imply nothing beyond that, though some girls will if the price is right, so I am told.
The preening popinjay has now departed the scene and good riddance, say I. He did not bring glamour to F1, he has always been as iffy as fake tan.
Should anyone forget, there was the bomb outside the door of his flat in Victoria, London. At the time it was laughed off as an IRA operative panicking and shedding a device. The IRA were never that incompetent, more's the pity. The bomb was a reminder from a disgruntled client.
My information is that Flav had offered to assist a young driver, from Sicily, and had not performed as well as the driver's family thought he should have done. The family wanted their money back and the bomb was a reminder. It was like a letter from a bank manager, but Sicilian style.
Renault once sacked him for alleged financial irregularities and then were daft enough to be charmed into hiring him again. Briatore should have been kicked out of motor sport in 1994 when Benetton ran with illegal traction control and also removed a filter from the fuel pump to speed delivery and when Michael Schumacher rammed Damon Hill to secure the World Championship for a maker of knitwear.
Briatore should never have been allowed to gain a position inside motor racing. It is a scandal that it has taken a scandal to see him booted out, he has always had form. I trust that the Football League will do the right thing, and remove him from the chairmanship of Queen's Park Rangers. QPR is a club which has been around the highest levels of the game and should QPR break into the Premiership again, and QPR could, the financial rewards could be enormous.
I am glad to see Flavio busted, I make no bones about that. He runs something on Sardinia's Emerald Coast, called the Billionaire's Club. That is Wannabee if ever I heard it, it is so cheap and tacky. I have stayed in a five star hotel on the Emerald Coast and can report that the beaches are good and a gratifying amount of topless sunbathing goes on. There is nothing else there.
How does a pleb like me know about the best hotel on Sardinia? Ford was holding a launch, which is how I got to drive a works RS200. Being a hack does have its moments. Flav's Billionaire's Club is a nonsense and if you belong to it you might as well have 'Twat' tattooed on your forehead.
It saddens me that the slimeball was able to induce an engineer into his web. There is no excuse for Pat Symonds, I always liked the guy and now I hope he never crosses my path again. He will not be unemployed, he remains a first class engineer, but he will never again command the salary or respect that once he did. There will be attempts to hire him via the back door, but the FIA seems to have that covered. A bent engineer is worse than a bent copper.
With a rogue policeman, you can understand the money aspect, they rub up against criminals who are seriously wealthy and who have slush funds in place. Symonds was paid more than he can ever dreamed of when he set out as an apprentice at Ford. Being personable and articulate, on top of being a brilliant designer, Pat became a favourite with TV crews and consequently we couch potatoes thought we knew him pretty well. He came across as a regular guy, he passed the 'would you prop up a bar with this man?' test. It turns out that we did not know him at all. He may smile and smile and be a villain as Shakespeare had it, on the button as always.
Now Symonds is exposed as a cheat and Renault's own in-house investigation has unearthed a further witness to the worst case of cheating in F1 history. There are practical reasons for hoping that Renault was not banned outright, supply of engines among them, but Renault was rigorous in its own investigation and that must count for something.
Plea-bargaining went on and I think that the outcome was fair. Renault went beyond mere cooperation, the company was keen to clear everything. We do not know the amount of the voluntary contribution Renault paid to assist the FIA's campaign to develop safer cars, but 'substantial' should cover it.
An irony is that Renault was the first manufacturer to score five stars for every model it made on the FIA-initiated NCAP test.
We could argue until the cows come home about what should have been the judgement. I think that the WMSC got it about right. Damon Hill disagrees, and I respect Damon, the actual 1994 World Champion. It comes down to this, judgement has been passed and there is nothing anyone can do about it. We can hold the pub debates, but nothing will come of them except a good time, 'Another one for me, Landlord, but only a half for my friend under the table, he's driving.'
Symonds was under the illusion that he was acting in the best interests of his team. There were 700 employees at Enstone and that means a lot of families relying on Renault to remain in F1. I can understand his thinking. His mate, Flav, had been getting away with heavy stuff for years, I can see how an honest man could be persuaded.
Briatore possesses charm. He got by on charm until he was found with his fingers in the cookie jar. The fact that he has been allowed to operate within motor sport for so long is a disgrace. Everyone knew that Flav was a Wrong 'Un. Some sports might have investigated the bomb incident. The fact that the FIA did not is a strike against them.
Of course, there are other issues, like who is Witness X, why was he silent for a year and are his motives in speaking now strictly honourable?
Witness X must have held a senior post in the team and perhaps even benefited from the departure of Symonds. Every workplace has its friendships. loyalties and jealousies. The whole thing is a crazy mess.
As an engineer, Symonds was paid to find loopholes in the rules, but what he did goes beyond everything reasonable. At best you can say he did it from loyalty to the team as a whole, to the men and women who arrive to work every day and whose jobs were on the line. Sorry, Pat, but what you were engaged in is also known as a sport. Motor racing is only a sport, it is not finding a cure for cancer. In the wider scheme of things, what you did is not that important.
At least Symonds finally owned up and retained a little dignity. Briatore has never had any dignity, he has always been a joke. Even when he knew that he was screwed, he still ranted about the Piquets as though his loud mouth was a defence. A gentleman would have gone quietly. 'There is a glass of brandy and a revolver in the library, you know what you have to do.'
Briatore chose instead to create a fuss and so generate more bad press for Renault. Renault did not deserve to have its name dragged through the mud although that was always a possibility if you employed Flavio Briatore.
Mike Lawrence
mike@pitpass.com
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