The French government plans to sell two supercars it seized last week after accusing its drivers of speeding. The auction will generate hundreds of thousands in profit for the government from a $180,000 Ferrari 360 Spider and a Ruf Porsche 933 worth more than $125,000.

Marc Sharifi, 47, was accused of driving his Ferrari at 159 MPH and the Gerald Harrison, 27, of driving his Porsche at 155 MPH in an 80 MPH zone on the A26 just outside Calais at 9:30 PM. Kent, UK Police had tipped off French police that a number of high-performance vehicles were headed their way. The French promptly laid a trap to ensnare the expensive automobiles, catching only the two lead vehicles.

Both UK residents were brought before a judge last week and given a 1000 Euro fine (US $1250) and a three month suspended jail sentence. They were participating in the Cannonball Run, an event where motorists drive exotic machinery 3000 miles cross-country. In the modern Cannonball event, extreme driving is limited to stops at race tracks with this year's winning car averaging only 60.98 MPH on the journey.

"I feel it [the case] was unfairly treated," Harrison told the Scotsman newspaper. "Anyone could have been caught. They just wanted to catch Cannonballers. The sentence they imposed on me was harsh and they were trying to make an example of us. I'm happy to still be here and not in a French prison."