RICHARD BRANSON LOSES F1 BET, READY TO SERVE AIRASIA PASSENGERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Richard Branson, having lost the bet with
Tony Fernandes on who has the better Formula 1 team, will now prepare himself to
serve some lucky AirAsia's passengers, complete in AirAsia stewardess uniform.

"While Lotus Racing’s attention now turns to the young driver and tyre tests
in Abu Dhabi, the team, AirAsia and their counterparts at Virgin Racing are busy
preparing for Richard Branson’s inaugural flight as an AirAsia stewardess," said
Lotus Racing and AirAsia in a joint statement Monday.

In the midst of the celebrations on track Sunday night, Lotus Racing Team
Principal Tony Fernandes gave Richard an AirAsia uniform and pinned an AirAsia
stewardess’ badge on the Virgin Racing Team Principal and the two agreed how the
bet would be settled, it said.

Tony Fernandes said: “There has been a fantastic spirit of competition
between us and Virgin Racing all season, and one of the first people to come and
congratulate us on the pitwall was Richard.

"We have had this great bet running all season and now it’s time for
Richard to start preparing himself for some hard work and the likely pain of a
pair of high heels!".

"We agreed last night that we will run an online charity auction for the
seats on our Kuala Lumpur/London route to raise money for a charity of Richard’s
choice and give fans of both teams the chance to be on the flight," he said.

"The date of the flight will be announced very soon and the aim is to raise
as much money as we can for a good cause so the discomfort Richard will go
through is worth as much as it possibly can be!" he added.

More details on the date of the flight and how to enter the charity auction
to bid for a seat will be announced very soon.

Lotus Racing and Virgin Racing failed to score any points in this season F1
but Lotus Racing's drivers have managed to finish better than their Virgin
Racing counterparts.

-- BERNAMA