Time for action
- Published: 26/02/2010 at 10:55 AM
- Online news: Auto Scoop
Motoring' talks to Jean Todt, president of the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) during his visit to Bangkok on the future of motorsport. and mobility.
Jean Todt: There's room for improvement.
You recently said that Formula One must improve fuel consumption. How?
By working on the electronics of the engine. Improving technology is not only about improving power and lap time, but you must develop technology for sustainability and the environment. Fuel consumption in F1 cars is massive, so you have to ask the engineers and manufacturers to pay specific attention to decrease fuel consumption.
Is KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) a solution to that?
KERS is what [we are] implementing as a new technology. Unfortunately the teams will not use it in this year's championship probably due to the cost. But I feel the technical challenge is very interesting and so I will make a lot of effort to make sure this point is covered in the future.
You oppose to Formula One budget cap. So what are the other possibilities?
The budget cap could be open to a lot of controversies because there [could be] people who tell you that this or that has not been done or has not been discovered. So when you implement a new rule, you must make sure that you are able to control and to be on top of the [possible] problems. So, I'm convinced we'll be able to find solutions to reduce costs without having a cap but [by] strictly implementing simple [new] rules.
If one of the F1 teams do not start a race this season, would Stefan GP be considered as a substitution?
Any team could be considered once you make a tender. You know, if it happens that a position in the championship becomes free, in this case the FIA would make a tender then the best team would become the 13th team.
How can the WRC get up from the current doldrums?
It's a good point. I've already organised a few meetings to cover the rally situation. I'm optimistic that we will find solutions to give better visibility to the World Rally Championship, to create interest for new manufacturers to join the championship and to create worldwide interest in rallying which is a very interesting motorsport category.
How can the FIA help the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship that's also in similar situation?
You have to make sure that the costs are sustainable, that the rules are clear and that there is a good show. And we must not forget that we are living in a massive economic crisis and that has bad consequences on all participants of all categories of motorsport. You know, that's why we need this opportunity to review all categories of racing and aim for new horizons this decade.
How does Thailand fit in to your vision of motorsport in Asia?
Thailand is a beautiful country and has good culture. Thailand is facing problems of mobility _ too many road accidents. The government and the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand (RAAT) are fully aware of that. All the programmes that can be linked together with the FIA to improve situations, we will do. On the sporting [side] there are lots of things which can be done to improve the situations and which we are working on with my friends at RAAT.
Is the ``Make Roads Safe'' campaign a success?
Yes, it is a success and it is going to be a big success in the future. Next month we're going to launch a programme to be homologated by the United Nations in New York called ``A Decade for Action''. A lot of effort will be put in by all the governments and all the automobile clubs and associations in the world to contribute to road safety _ in terms of education, road infrastructure and new technologies. I am optimistic that together we will [help] save lives.
About the author
- Writer: Wiwat Chang
- Position: Motoring Reporter
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