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Sunday September 13, 2009

FIA candidate Vatanen calls for unity

MONZA: FIA presidential candidate Ari Vatanen has called for unity and order to be re-established in Formula One as the sport struggles with yet more damaging claims of espionage and cheating.

Vatanen, who is running against Jean Todt to succeed Max Mosley, has been dismayed at the infighting and political chicanery that has blighted Formula One’s image this year.

The latest scandal to hit the sport erupted in a wildfire of claims and counter-claims here on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix and centres on Renault who have been accused of conspiring to fix last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The case is due to be heard by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Sept 21 and it has thrown up the prospect of Renault possibly being expelled from the sport.

It comes after McLaren Mercedes boss Ron Dennis quit earlier in the season after his team manager Dave Ryan and world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton were accused of lying after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Then followed the row which almost ripped apart Formula One when eight of the 10 teams involved threatened to create a breakaway series.

This was only averted by a last-gasp settlement after which Mosley made it clear he was to stand down and then anointed Todt as his favoured successor.

Vatanen said here yesterday: “F1 must stop being a battleground for various parties that don’t have an equal position.

“We must have stable surroundings and clear visibility. We can only do that by working together — and F1 has to be seen as the window of motor sport and the one that draws people together.”

Vatanen, a former world rally champion and member of the European parliament is standing against Frenchman Todt in elections to succeed Mosley.

He believes that he has the experience and ability to draw together all the various factions in Formula One and global motor sport to work on a new clean, clear agenda that will ring true for all motor racing fans and followers around the world.

Vatanen told the BBC this week that he and his presidential rival Todt “represent different worlds.”

This was widely interpreted as meaning that the possible election of Todt would be seen as a continuation of the Mosley era while Vatanen clearly represents a modernist approach that will bring changes and a new era of transparency to top-class world motor racing.

The election takes place on Oct 23. — AFP

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