Todt wins FIA Presidency battle over Vatanen
Frenchman Jean Todt has won out in a sometimes bitter battle for the FIA Presidency over former World Rally ace and European Union member Ari Vatanen.
In the end it was Todt, who was endorsed by outgoing President Max Mosley, won a clear majority, winning the vote with 135 votes to 45, with 12 invalid votes.
In other news to come out of the overnight vote, Australian Garry Connelly will hold a seat on the FIA World Motor Sport Council, while Kiwis Brian Gibbons and Morrie Chandler will also hold key positions, with Gibbons the new Deputy President Automobile Mobility & Tourism and Chandler a Sporting Vice President.
Voting in the General Assembly was made by secret ballot. The votes were counted in private by the FIA legal department, under the supervision of scrutineers proposed by the two presidential candidates and designated by the General Assembly.
As a result of the victory, Todt’s candidacy list (below) now takes up key officers at the FIA in both a mobility (automotive) and sporting (motor sport) sense:
President of the Senate Nick Craw, President, Automobile Competition Committee for the US (USA)
Deputy President Automobile Mobility & Tourism Brian Gibbons, Chief Executive, New Zealand Automobile Association (New Zealand)
Deputy President Sport Graham Stoker, Council Chairman, Motor Sports Association (UK)
Senate Members
Hernan Gallegos Banderas, President, Automovil Club del Ecuador (Ecuador)
HH Tunku Mudzaffar bin Tunku Mustapha, Chairman, Automobile Association of Malaysia (Malaysia)
S.H. Rudolf Graf von der Schulenburg, President, Automobilclub von Deutschland (Germany)
Carlos Slim Domit, Patron, Asociación Mexicana Automovilistica (Mexico)
Jainchang Yan, Deputy President, Federation of Automobile Sports of China (China)
Mobility Vice Presidents
Carlos Barbosa, President, Automovel Club de Portugal (Portugal)
Victor Dumot, President, Touring and Automobile Club of Paraguay (Paraguay)
Ignacio Gonzalez Fausto, President, Asociación Mexicana Automovilistica (Mexico)
Gus Lagman, President, Automobile Association Philippines (Philippines)
Franco Lucchesi, Delegate to the FIA, Automobile Club d’Italia (Italy)
Jorge Rosales, President, Automobile Club of Argentina (Argentina)
Danijel Starman, President, Avto-moto zveza Slovenije (Slovenia)
Sport Vice Presidents
José Abed, President, Organizacion Mexicana del Deporte Automovilistico Internacional (Mexico)
Michel Boeri, President, Automobile Club de Monaco (Monaco)
Morrie Chandler, Honorary President, MotorSport New Zealand (New Zealand)
Enrico Gelpi, President, Automobile Club d’Italia (Italy)
Carlos Gracia, President, Real Federación Española de Automovilismo (Spain)
Mohamed ben Sulayem, President, Automobile and Touring Club for United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Surinder Thatthi, Automobile Association of Tanzania (Tanzania)