28/09/2009
NEWS STORY
Over the course of the Singapore GP weekend the team organising Jean Todt's FIA presidential campaign sent out no less than five press releases.
They informed us that the former Peugeot and Ferrari team boss has the backing of some mighty powerful people, including the promoters of the FIA World Rally Championship, the FIA World Touring Car Championship and the FIA GT Championship, not forgetting Bernie Ecclestone in his role as CEO of Formula One Management.
Next came testimonials from a number of leading "motorsport personalities", including Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Felipe Massa, Gerhard Berger, Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and Roger Penske.
Then there was the praise heaped on the man from members of the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders (ICM), followed by further warm praise from various people involved in the Singapore GP, at which Todt was present, as was presidency rival Ari Vatanen.
By the end of it one had the distinct feeling that by the time the election comes around later next month, everyone in the world except Vatanen will have given the Frenchman their support.
It's a masterful campaign, which is pretty much what you would expect seeing that it is run by Richard Woods, reportedly, according to the Times, one of the most powerful person in F1, and, along with Tony Purnell and Alan Donnelly, part of Max Mosley's much feared cabal at the heart of the FIA.
Woods, who is understood to have honed his skills as a spin master with the Labour Party, is currently taking time off from his role as the FIA's 'director of communications' but if/when Todt proves victorious he will return to his old job emboldened, much like Purnell and Donnelly.
Having read the numerous press releases and finding ourselves in serious danger of falling asleep at the keyboard during Sunday's two hours of tedium - or, as Bridgestone's Hiroshi Yasukawa called it, "the fantastic Grand Prix" - we checked out some of the other e-mails received over the course of the weekend.
Bearing in mind the slick organisation behind Todt's campaign, we were astounded to discover, courtesy of a reader, that there actually used to be an organisation called, appropriately, Organisation Todt.
There is absolutely no connection, but bearing in mind a couple of the scandals that have blighted our sport in the last year or so there is a delicious irony. A Google search for Organisation Todt throws up further interesting facts.
While Todt and his crew are busy getting as many supporters on side as possible, it is worth remembering that the presidential vote is anonymous, therefore those that publicly support Todt might well give their vote to Vatanen, indeed this is what happened when Mosley took on Balestre all those years ago.
Bearing this in mind, and looking at the picture of the 'Todt Compound' on Wikipedia, one can almost imagine - should the election not go quite to plan - another spoof 'Downfall' video, this time featuring Mosley, Donnelly, Purnell and Woods.
Finally, When Vatanen went to shake Todt's hand on the grid before yesterday's Grand Prix, it was quite clear that the group surrounding the Frenchman on his (pre) presidential walkabout was not happy, with Bernie Ecclestone and Woods doing their best to get him out of the way. While Vatanen forces his way towards Todt surely there should not be the need for such blatant favouritism towards one presidential hopeful. Footage of the incident is now available here.