January 13, 2004
Team manager Kari Koski was behind the wheel of brand new FinOz Racing 2004 outfit at Monza on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Koski did only about 10 laps in total in 3 seperate runs, to check everything works for the first upcoming F1VWC test held later this week in Barcelona, Spain.

"I was really nervous when I sat in the car and the mechanics fired up the Ferrari engine. The nervousness changed into this amazing feeling when I selected first gear and rolled out the pit box for the very first time. Although I took things really easy on these few laps the car felt good and the engine has good potential. We know we are down on BHP compared to some of the engines, but the base is really good to build on." commented Koski after returning to the pits.

The new FO-004 has a very familiar design to last years F1 Renault R23B chassis. "Yes it based on the F1 Renault R23B. R23B was one of the best package on track last year and I don't see why it wouldn't be a working concept for the 2004 F1VWC season."

"It is too early to say anything about the speed compared to other teams. It's too early after the first test at Barcelona, but then we have some data to compare. I don't think we can show our true potential till later test sessions, but Melbourne Qualifying session is the first where speed really counts - and we have just under 2 months to develop the car. So we are really optimistic for the upcoming season." Koski added before going into a debrief meeting with chief engineers and other team personel.