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SACK-U
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« on: June 22, 2005, 07:43:57 pm » |
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Bernie Ecclestone might want to work on his apologies.
It seemed the Formula One president and CEO had seen the error of his words about women racing with men when he called Danica Patrick over the weekend, presumably to apologize.
But then he repeated his comments.
Ecclestone made news last week with his comments made in response to Patrick's fourth-place finish at the Indianpolis 500.
Asked about Patrick's success, Ecclestone acknowledged her strong finish, but then made an assessment about women racing with men that caused a stir, saying, "You know I've got one of those wonderful ideas ... women should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."
On Saturday, Patrick received a phone call from Ecclestone, in which he complimented her on her performance at the Indy 500, the Indy Star reported.
But Ecclestone caught Patrick off guard when he repeated to her his statement about women and "domestic appliances."
"He told me those things, and I was like, I don't know, I just didn't make sense of it," Patrick told the Indy Star on Tuesday in her first public remarks since the quote drew national attention. "I can't believe that he would say that ... directly to me."
Patrick said Ecclestone did not mention having already said the "domestic appliances" line to the media and the 23-year-old is still unsure how to react to the remark.
"I was a bit confused ... Unless he was talking about someone else or the majority [of women] or what, I'm not really sure," she told the paper. "Or, maybe that's his real feelings, and if that's the case, then it doesn't really matter because I'm racing in the Indy Racing League."
Ecclestone has garned attention before for comments on women in racing.
The 74-year-old told Autosport racing magazine in Feb. 2000 that women would never excel in Forumla One. He added that if a woman did make it, "she would have to be a woman who was blowing away the boys. ... What I would really like to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who speaks Spanish."
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