http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143995040&cid=145&j=&m=&d= British tabloids fry Thatthi on Hamilton By Standard Team British media outlets continued their assault on local high profile motor sport administrator, Surinder Thatthi, over his role in Formula One star, Lewis Hamiltons saga. Best selling Sunday tabloid, News of the World, famed for exposÈs, was the latest publication to direct its wrath in a story headlined Lewis Hamilton Steward Probe posted on its website www.newsoftheworld.co.uk. Thatthi was one of three stewards who ruled that championship leader; Hamilton had gained unfair advantage at the Spa by cutting a chicane (sharp corner). The decision at the Belgian Grand Prix saw Hamilton stripped of victory and relegated to third after he powered his McLaren Mercedes to the chequered flag first a fortnight ago. News of the World, termed Thatthi as incompetent and has broken FIA rules. The stewards decision sparked accusations that the world championship is rigged in favour of Italian manufacturer, Ferrari. The sister publication to The Sun further claimed the veteran administrator poured more fuel on the conspiracy theory by admitting: "The Italians love me. The British hate me but I can walk into any Italian restaurant." The tabloid said their investigations have uncovered evidence that as the chairman of last years Safari Rally, Thatthi manipulated results. Citing an independent FIA observers report, News of the World wrote that the "governing body slated the organisation of the 2007 KCB Safari Rally amid allegations of cheating, poor time-keeping, wrong stages being cancelled and a lack of results." The publication charged that in an email leaked to them, "Thatthi is said to have admitted changing the rallys results for one championship, but leaving them unaltered for another in breach the FIAs own International Sporting Code." Speaking to FeverPitch in a story carried on Wednesday, September 10, Thatthi had said, "We deliberated at length over the matter and we were convinced that Hamilton cut a corner and we thus meted out a penalty on him." He added: "What he did was wrong and people need to understand that we acted professionally." Efforts to reach him in the latest twist to the saga were futile as Thatti was said to be out of the country. When contacted, former Rallies Commission chairman at the Kenya Motor Sport Foundation (KMSF), Mark Tilbury, who had been quoted in paper admitted to the publications charge that results at last years Safari won by Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach were flawed. "Results were basically wrong. In some instances, wrong stages were cancelled which disadvantaged some drivers
