FORMER WORLD rally champion Ari Vatanen is considering standing against Max Mosley if the Briton seeks re-election as president of motorsport’s world governing body.
“At the moment, I am consulting the member clubs and am already seeing positive feedback,” the 57-year-old Finn said.
“I am considering standing. I think the time has come for a change,” added the four-times Dakar Rally winner.
“I would go for it, even if not sure of winning.”
Mosley (69) said last month that he would not seek a fifth four-year term in office once his tenure ends in October. This was part of a deal with Formula One teams who had been calling for a reform of the sport’s governance and threatening a breakaway series.
The Briton has since accused the teams of “dancing on his grave” and suggested that he was under pressure from members of the Paris-based International Automobile Federation (FIA) to stay on.
“I am under pressure now from all over the world to stand for re-election,” said Mosley.
“I do genuinely want to stop, but if there is going to be a big conflict with the car industry, for example with the FOTA teams, then I won’t stop.”
Vatanen said Mosley had done a lot for motorsport, adding that he enjoyed a good relationship with him, but he felt there was a time when every organisation needed change.
Mosley has been a controversial figure in the FIA, most notably last year, when he saw off calls for his resignation over a sado-masochistic sex scandal and his subsequent British high court victory over invasion of his privacy by a British tabloid.
The FIA president, whose organisation groups some 219 member clubs from 130 countries on five continents, has also worked hard to make motorsport safer, while championing environmentally-friendly technology.
Vatanen won the world rally championship in 1981, with the future Benetton and BAR Formula One team boss David Richards as his co-driver.
The Finn was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 until this year.
Other potential candidates for the FIA position could include former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt, the Frenchman widely seen as Mosley’s preferred successor, should the president decide to step down. – Reuters