June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Max Mosley won the right to remain as president of Formula One's ruling body today after a sex scandal.

Members of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile voted 103-55 in favor of the 68-year-old Englishman staying on - - a decision that upset some motoring organizations.

The News of the World alleged March 30 that Mosley took part in a ``Nazi orgy'' with five women. He denied Nazi overtones and is suing the British tabloid.

``He is more or less a lame-duck president,'' Guido van Woerkom, president of the ANWB -- the Dutch Touring Club -- told reporters after the special assembly of the FIA in Paris. ``There will be a big debate in the FIA in the coming months because sooner or later he will be succeeded.''

Robert Darbelnet, president of the American Automobile Association, said the largest U.S. motoring club would consider splitting from the FIA ``in the next few months'' following the vote.

Mosley may complete his fourth four-year term, which ends in October 2009, also in the face of opposition from Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive officer of Formula One's commercial arm, and carmakers in the series such as Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz. They say the story is damaging the sport.

FIA executive Alan Donnelly declined to comment as he left the organization's headquarters in Paris today.

`Outcry' Predicted'

If Mosley remained, ``there will be an outcry but the carmakers will have no option but to carry on with the business of racing,'' Mick de Haas, a Baarn, Netherlands-based sponsorship agent who has worked in Formula One since the 1980s, said in an interview before the vote.

In a letter to FIA members released April 2, Mosley said the News of the World report was a ``wholly unwarranted'' invasion of privacy. The newspaper claimed there was ``some sort of Nazi connotation to the matter,'' the letter said. ``This is entirely false.''

``We don't want somebody from outside the FIA interfering with what we do inside,'' Nicklaus Zuercher, president of the Swiss Automobile Club, said in an interview, referring to the News of the World story.

Mosley told FIA members before the vote that he could ``take a lesser role,'' Darbelnet said.

Sport's Image

Ecclestone, 77, said last week that he'd asked Mosley, an associate of his since the 1970s, to stand down. In April, Mercedes-Benz, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. said the News of the World story was hurting the sport's image. Ferrari SpA and Renault SA, the other two carmakers in the series, didn't comment.

The six carmakers didn't have a vote in the secret ballot held at the FIA headquarters. The FIA membership is made up of about 200 representatives from national motor sport associations and motoring groups worldwide.

ADAC, the German Automobile Association, ``will freeze its activities with the FIA as long as Mosley is president,'' it said in a press release. ``ADAC views with regret and incredulity the FIA General Assembly's decision.''

Mosley, an Oxford University-educated lawyer, led the drive for improved safety measures in Formula One, including mandatory head-and-neck braces for drivers, after three-time champion Ayrton Senna was killed in 1994.

He has also pushed to make Formula One environmentally friendly. Next year, teams will have to cut fuel use with systems that recover energy from braking. The FIA also oversees other forms of motor sport including the World Rally Championship and helps finance road-safety research.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Paris via the London newsroom or on aduff4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 3, 2008 08:23 EDT