Todt favored to take over
PARIS -- Ari Vatanen hopes his pledge to clean up a sport hit by Formula One's crippling scandals is enough to beat favorite Jean Todt in Friday's vote to decide the new head of motor racing's governing body.
The two men are the only candidates up for election to replace Max Mosley, and Todt has backing from the influential and outgoing FIA president. Todt, a 63-year-old Frenchman, is a former Ferrari team principal who revived the fortunes of the flagging Italian team and worked on FIA's World Motor Sport Council.
Vatanen is a former world rally and Paris-Dakar champion from Finland who once raced under Todt in the 1980s.
"My role is to offer an alternative to the way things are done," Vatanen told The Associated Press in a recent interview where he pledged to repair the sport's image. "We must put our house into order."
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher firmly back Todt, who cites "affordability and competition, innovation and excellence" as the cornerstones of his election campaign.
Todt's style of leadership will be similar to Mosley's and offer continuity. He will likely keep most of the current senior FIA officials in their positions.
Todt declined an interview request from the AP, but Schumacher praised his "leadership, loyalty, commitment and knowledge."
The 57-year-old Vatanen has the support of three-time champion Jackie Stewart and vows to introduce a code of ethics to F1's governing body if he wins -- a clear attempt to prove his intention to clean up motor racing's premier event.
Mosley's long and recently troubled reign ends amid the dark backdrop of another scandal: Renault bosses were recently found guilty of ordering Nelson Piquet. Jr. to crash his car during a race. Vatanen promises such skullduggery would end.
Mosley steps down after four terms that were characterized by political battles and personal indiscretions.
Mosley promises not to cast a shadow over the new president, no matter who wins on Friday.
"They've got this theory that I'm going to be this malevolent presence behind the scenes," Mosley told The Times. "That's absolutely not true. I would never call anyone and say I think you should do such and such."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
