Less than a week before the Extraordinary General Assembly which will decide Max Mosley's fate, Twenty-four FIA clubs representing twenty-two countries have signed a letter to the FIA President demanding an immediate agreement to step down.

The letter, which is in response to Mosley's recent letter, is no doubt the first of many that will appear in the coming days as the various factions take sides.

"The FIA is in a critical situation," the letter reads. "Its image, reputation and credibility are being severely eroded. Every additional day that this situation persists, the damage increases. There is no way back."

They accuse Mosley of "putting personal considerations before the interests of the FIA and its member clubs" by refusing to stand down immediately and insisting on serving out his term.

Responding directly to Mosley's recent letter and the claim that the governing body faces the prospect of losing control of F1 to the commercial rights owner(s), the signatories clearly have more faith in Ecclestone.

"We take note of the letter sent by Ecclestone to all member clubs, stating his support for the FIA as the sole body governing international motor sport and his willingness to continue working with the FIA, irrespective of the result of the Extraordinary General Assembly on June 3rd.

"We believe that his explanations put in due perspective the state of the relationship between the FIA and the Formula 1 world, taking away relevance to many of the arguments you make in your letter to justify your continuity. We take note of his point on the importance that the FIA be led by a credible and respected president."

Summing up, the signatories make their position crystal clear.

"We strongly believe that the only respectable way forward for the FIA, and for yourself, is to have an orderly transition, with an immediate agreement and your commitment to step down."

However, while the clubs that have signed the letter represent 85% of the total membership of the FIA, they control just 25% of the votes at the General Assembly.

The factions are rallying the troops, there will be many more letters.

The 24 clubs in question are: AAA (Australia), AAA (USA), AAS (Singapore), AATA (USA), ADAC (Germany), AL (Finland), ANWB (Netherlands), CAA (Canada), CCB (Brazil), FDM (Denmark), FFSA (France), FIAA (India), JAA (Jamaica), JAF (Japan), KNAC (Netherlands), M (Sweden), MAK (Hungary), MEMSI (Israel), NAF (Norway), OEAMTC (Austria), RACC (Spain), RACE (Spain), TCB (Belgium) and TCS (Switzerland)