Todt voted to replace Mosley as FIA president

PARIS, Oct. 23 -- Former Ferrari boss Jean Todt won 135 votes against 49 for Ari Vatanen with 12 abstentions here on Friday to be elected president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

"Jean Todt has been elected president of the FIA for a four-year term by the FIA General Assembly at its annual meeting in Paris," said an FIA statement.

The 63-year-old Frenchman will replace Max Mosley for the most powerful position in world motor sport. Mosley, having been FIA president since he ousted Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre in 1993, will remain in the FIA senate.

Todt had been backed throughout an increasingly acrimonious campaign by Mosley and had also received support from Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

His sole rival candidate Vatanen is a former world rally champion and European parliamentarian, who stood on a platform of change and transparent governance to make a clean break from the controversial Mosley era.