With the British Grand Prix only 10 days away, Silverstone-based sports memorabilia company Absolute Authentic is tackling the rampant problem of autograph forgery by offering F1 fans uniquely authenticated items signed by drivers including reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso and British stars Jenson Button and David Coulthard.

America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains that over half of all signed sports memorabilia is forged and has been breaking international gangs of professional sports memorabilia forgers through its long running Operation Bullpen investigation.

The signed F1 memorabilia marketplace is awash with forged items, many traded with unsuspecting members of the public using internet auction sites. Sports memorabilia fraud is a major problem in the UK. Only last October an individual trader in Leicester was found guilty of defrauding 73 fans leading to a 16-month jail sentence and a five-year ban on internet trading.

Absolute Authentic uses a dual authentication process where by all items are identified by a hologram and individually numbered, the autographing sessions being filmed and photographed so that customers can actually view their items being signed by entering the item's unique number on the company's web site.

"Whether fans buy items on line, or even through some of the less reputable retail outlets, there is little to guarantee that the item of F1 memorabilia they have bought is genuine or signed by their hero," said Barry Gough, a former BAR Honda F1 mechanic and co-founder of the business. "Industry insiders know that forgery has been rife, so if a fan really wants to own something that is actually signed by Jenson Button or David Coulthard there is often little they can do to demonstrate its provenance. At Absolute Authentic we go to extreme lengths to prove that every signed item is entirely genuine, giving the buyer both the security and satisfaction of knowing they own a piece of F1 sporting history."

Absolute Authentic's showroom at Silverstone will be open throughout the course of the British Grand Prix weekend on June 8th-11th and fans will also be able to enjoy live coverage of the opening matches in the 2006 World Cup Finals from Germany.

Please Note: Absolute Authentic also supplies signed memorabilia from Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Anthony Davidson, Giancarlo Fisichella, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen, Takuma Sato and others.