APRIL 4, 2008

Hunters in the FIA jungle

If Max Mosley has to go as FIA President, there is no obvious successor. There has been talk of the job going to Ferrari's Jean Todt but his close association with Mosley in recent times could possibly count against him.

If Max Mosley has to go as FIA President, there is no obvious successor. There has been talk of the job going to Ferrari's Jean Todt but his close association with Mosley in recent times could possibly count against him.

Michael Boeri, the head of the FIA Senate and chairman of the Automobile Club de Monaco for more than 30 years, has had several chances to run for the FIA Presidency but has never been a serious candidate. Swedish management consultant Lars Osterlind, head of the Swedish Automobile Federation since 1982 has a similar record.

Marco Piccinini (55), the FIA Deputy-President, was once Enzo Ferrari's private banker and then spent 11 years as the sporting director of Ferrari F1 team, becoming one of the architects of the Concorde Agreement and a Ferrari board member.

In recent months, however, he has been playing less of a role in the FIA.

Most of the others in the current World Motor Sport Council are too old to be taking on the role in the long-term and a lot of them have long associations with Mosley, which may count against them. One man who should be watched is Nick Craw (61), who is president of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS). He was previously executive director of the US national governing body for the sport of sailing. He previously served as president and CEO of the Sports Car Club of America for 17 years. A former driver he was also CEO of Scorpio Racing Enterprises from 1968-80. Prior to that he was director of the Peace Corps in the 1970s. A graduate of Princeton, with an MBA Harvard, he is very well-regarded within the FIA.

From the touring side of the FIA come Germany's Peter Meyer (58) and Robert Darbelnet (57). The former heads ADAC, the second biggest FIA club, while the former is the boss of the American Automobile Association, who was president of the FIA's sister organization the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) from 2001. He became a Deputy President of the FIA until 2005.