FIA President Jean Todt’s three day trip to Mexico ended this morning with a press conference to present the 6 Hours of Mexico, the fifth round of this season’s FIA World Endurance Championship, which will take place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

The last time this event was held here was back in 1991 when the winners were Keke Rosberg and Yannick Dalmas at the wheel of a Peugeot 905, when the team boss and Head of Motor Sport for the Peugeot-Citroen Group was none other than Jean Todt. 

 “It’s true, it was 25 years ago when I had a very different job to my current one,” recalled Todt during the press conference. “And it’s nice to be here today along with so many people showing interest in the World Endurance Championship. Since that time, this discipline has gone through some difficult moments but, thanks to the efforts of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the CEO of the WEC Gerard Neveu, it is once again reaching new heights: now the races are spectacular, often decided on the last lap after 6 hours of racing.”

"I am particularly pleased that the FIA WEC is back in Mexico, a country that has racing in the blood and that today hosts a vast range of FIA events, from Formula 1 to the WRC, from WEC to Formula E, the latter providing a really thrilling show yesterday right here at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.”

Continuing on the theme of stressing the strong synergies between motorsport and mobility, which are the two cornerstones of the FIA, Todt went on to mention the importance of the social and civil responsibility, which every single person involved in motor sport has to support campaigns for road safety. 

“Every year, around 1.3 million people are killed in the world and 15 million are injured in road accidents: in Mexico alone there are 15,000 deaths and over half a million injured, 30% of them pedestrians,” continued the FIA President. “We are well aware what incredible progress has been made in terms of safety in motorsport and how close are the links between this and the production of road cars, as well as how the popularity of its participants can help. Therefore, I would like to thank all the drivers, including those who are here today (attending the conference were Lucas di Grassi, Sam Bird, Loïc Duval, Bruno Senna, Sebastien Buemi e Nicolas Prost, Ed.’s note) for their support of the campaigns the FIA is running along with so many organisations. One of these, Vision Zero, is running here in Mexico, as was announced last Friday at an event attended by the Mayor of Mexico City Miguel Mancera and, among others, José Abed, FIA Vice President for sport and the President of the OMDAI and Carlos Slim Domit, CEO of the Carso Group and Telmex, as well as being a member of the FIA Senate. “I am a firm believer in getting the most important people involved at all levels, both globally and nationally,” concluded Todt. “We need to tackle the problem of road safety with the same approach that’s been adopted in the past and continues to be used now in fighting diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS.”