PARIS (AP) -Jean Todt is favored against Ari Vatanen when the new president of motor racing's governing body is decided. Todt will have the backing from influential and outgoing FIA president Max Mosley. The 63-year-old Frenchman arrived for Friday's vote in the company of another big backer, seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone also firmly supports Todt. Vatanen also filed in ahead of the vote at a hotel near FIA headquarters in Paris. Voting began at 4:30 a.m. EDT. Todt is a former Ferrari team principal who revived the fortunes of the flagging Italian team and led them during the Schumacher golden era. The 57-year-old Vatanen is a former world rally and Paris-Dakar champion from Finland who once raced under Todt in the 1980s.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |
