Vatanen will lose badly, warns Mosley

The battle to replace world motorsport head Max Mosley heated up on Friday with the leak of a sharply-worded letter from the Briton to Jordan's Prince Feisal.

Britain's Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers quoted the International Automobile Federation (FIA) president warning that Ari Vatanen, backed by Feisal against Mosley's preferred candidate Jean Todt, would "lose badly".

"Any thoughts that after this election everyone in motorsport can unite and work together can now be forgotten," he said, responding to Vatanen's criticism of the way the governing body has been run under Mosley.

"It is not possible to make statements like Vatanen's and then expect the victims of those insults to forget what has been said.

"The simple fact is that Vatanen will lose the election and lose badly, not least because he chose to denigrate the FIA and those currently in office."

The prince, also president of the country's Olympic Committee, has been named by former world rally champion Vatanen as one of his proposed vice-presidents for sport if he wins the October 23 election.

The Jordan Times website (www.jordantimes.com) today said the prince responded to Mosley's letter in an address to a motoring conference.

"Jordan has always maintained a strong relationship with the FIA president, so I am deeply disappointed by the content and the insinuations of his letter which have raised serious questions as to the credibility of the upcoming and future elections," he said.