Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen Pieti Uolevi [ ɑri vɑtɑnɛn ] (* April 27, 1952 in Tuupovaara ) is a Finnish rally driver, and since 1999 a member of the European Parliament.
He began his international career in 1976. In 1980 he won the Acropolis Rally his first world championship race in 1981, he and his co-driver David Richards on a Ford Escort World Rally Champion. Later he turned to desert rallies to, drove for Peugeot and Citroën and won a total of four times the automobile classification of the famous Dakar Rally. In 2007 he started for Volkswagen in this longest and toughest rally raid in the world, his co-pilot was the Italian Fabrizia Pons.
In 1999 he was first elected to the European Parliament, as a member of the Finnish party Kansallinen Kokoomus, but then stayed in France. From 2004 to 2009 he was a member of the European Parliament for the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire.
Vatanen was on 10 July 2009 that he would take up in October 2009 with the election of the President of the International Automobile Federation ( FIA). Many FIA 's member associations are therefore approached him. In the end he lost the election, however, against Frenchman Jean Todt.
Others
- In 1988 he had to give up just before the finish because his vehicle was stolen.
- In 1988, he secured with a new course record overall victory at the world famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the USA.