U.S. president Obama was not allowed drive the Volt down the Hamtramck assembly line. His colleague in Turkmenistan does not suffer such tight restrictions and was allowed to win Turkmenistan’s first car race.

Last Saturday, Turkmenistan’s unpronounceable president Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov drove to the track in the capital Ashgabat in a lime green Bugatti Veyron, ostensibly just to watch the country’s inaugural car race.

When an event presenter introduced august guest, Berdymukhamedov asked: “Can I take part?” You deny such a request at your own peril in Turkmenistan. The president suited up, hopped into a likewise lime green Turkish-made Volkicar and won the time trial challenge. He could have raced his Veyron, but that would have been unfair.

The Associated Press has suspicions that the whole thing might have been choreographed. Who would think such a thing?  Berdymukhamedov simply likes lime green, just like Jack Baruth does.