Free Republic

AGEN, France, Oct 3, 2006 (AFP) - Six Britons and a Polish driver were arrested Tuesday for taking part in an illegal high-speed race across southwestern France reserved for the millionaire owners of ultra-powerful sports cars, police said. All were released after paying fines. The drivers were participating in an unofficial contest called the Black Carbon Rally -- a cross-country competition in which Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys and other costly cars are pushed to their limits by their wealthy owners. The race involved getting from Kent in England to Milan in Italy, via Bordeaux, Barcelona and Geneva in the shortest time....

THE first car from Iran to enter the World Solar Challenge has failed to arrive in Australia and is at risk of missing Sunday's start in the Darwin-to-Adelaide race. The Persian Gazelle, built by a team from the University of Tehran, is thought to be stuck somewhere en route to Australia, possibly Dubai. Race director Chris Selwood said Australian authorities and race organisers would do everything possible to get the car to the starting line if it arrived in time. But he admitted things were looking grim. "We can work with customs to expedite the thing when it arrives," he...

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized. Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track. "The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or...