Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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June 15, 2004
After misfortune at Monaco where FinOz Racing lost their podium finish position and the other car finished out of the points, the team has been working hard to solve the handling problems what both drivers have been complaining whole season.

The fitting of a redesigned power steering unit and modified steering column to Steve?s car for the Monaco race - where his race pace was very competitive - was a welcome development. Steve liked the new steering feeling and wanted to continue using the modified parts for the European GP also.

The results were outstanding - Pole Position by a ?country mile? and then leading 52 of 67 laps to take the win - he became the first driver to beat Scott Whiteman over a full race distance and in the process gained his and FinOz's first ever victory in the F1VWC.

This is what team members had to say after successful European GP:

Steve Elencevski?s comments:

?A great result for myself & the team, i knew we could pull off a win as my car felt great in qualifying & the race.

This is a big confidence boost also & we look forward to some of the upcoming races where we should be able to challenge for more wins. As for the championship, well there's still along way to go & we'll take things race by race & see how it pans out.?

Kari Koski?s comments:

?There must be something wrong with my car as I was struggling on race pace at monaco, qual here went quite well but again at the race my car felt absolutely undrivable and I was way off my practice times on the track. At the end I had no other chance to pull off on the side of the track.

Next stop at Canada, track is one of my favorites, but we need to sort out what?s wrong with the car first and then concentrate on American GP?s."

Team Manager?s comments:

?I can?t believe it! After big disappointment of Monaco where we lost our podium finish. First pole and then win is absolutely unbelievable achievement from Steve and from whole team. I want to congratulate all in the team, we have worked hard to get our first win and to get the win so early on the season is just unbelievable.

Still many races to go on the season and from now on we go out there to get the 2nd win and then the 3rd and so on.

Now we have sorted out what was slowing Steve down on first half of the season, too bad it took so long, but we have to remember this is our first season here and this is what you can call learning. Now we have to sort out Kari?s car problems and we really can challenge the top teams and drivers on both championships.?