Jean-Marie Balestre
Jean -Marie Balestre ( born April 9, 1921 in Saint- Remy- de -Provence, † March 27, 2008 in Saint- Cloud) was 1978-1996 President of various automobile associations, including FIA, FFSA and FISA.
After the end of World War II, during which he had never played a unique role clarified, Balestre moved the successful French car magazine Auto journal. He was co-founder of the French motorsport federation Fédération Française du sport automobile ( FFSA ) in 1950 and 1961 was the first president of the International Karting Commission of the FIA. He was elected President of the FFSA and 1978 as President of the International Sporting Commission of the FIA in 1973, he converted during his tenure in the FISA.
Between 1980 and 1982 he wrestled with Bernie Ecclestone to revenue and control of the Formula 1 The dispute could only be settled by a compromise put forward by Enzo Ferrari. 1986 Balestre president of the FIA, but was also the President of FISA.
During his presidency of the FIA Balestre penetrated among other things, introducing stringent crash tests for the cars of Formula 1 to make the sport safer. He was also responsible for the elimination of turbo engines in F1. In the racing world, the discontent grew about his management style when he in 1989 by a controversial disqualification of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost made a world champion. This led to the decision by Max Mosley, 1991 to run for the FISA presidency. The choice was made in favor of Mosley with 43 to 29 votes. Due to an impending defeat in the re-election to the FIA presidency in 1993, Balestre decided to resign voluntarily. However, he remained until the end of 1996 President of the FFSA.