June 12, 2004
different top 3 in Qualifying for a change. Here's what they had to say -

Pole Position - Steve Elencevski (FinOz - Ferrari (c))

Q: Fantastic job Steve! Pole by a mile, you must be feeling confident?

Yes indeed, i have to say the car feels very well balanced & i almost pulled off the perfect lap, but just for 1 small error where i ran a bit wide at Turn 8. But i'm very pleased & also quite optimistic of a strong result.

Q: Once again, the FinOz team are looking strong, you and Kari must have a good working relationship together.

Well after the Barcelona race we dug deep to find where we we're losing out over a race distance. We seem to have the speed over a few laps but we struggled for a few races over the entire race. We found a problem with my car during the Monaco race weekend, which we believe we have had since the first race in Melbourne & we will finally get to see our true speed from this race onwards.

Q: FinOz are yet to win in F1VWC, can the European GP be the first?

I hope we can pull it off, but it will be tough, we'll have to see what strategy the other guys are on, but i feel we have a good strategy for the race & we have a great package here & if i can continue with my qualifying pace throughout the race, then we could possibly get our first win.

2nd - Matt Maple (Mapes-VO - Honda)

Q: Well well well, we meet again Mr Maple! 2nd on the grid, an impresive debut in your own machinery! How did it go?

The lap until the last chicane was good, we made a mistake here and lost a lot of time, which sucks, but theres nothing we can do about it now, on the good side - the car felt good and this puts us in good shape for the race.

Q: You have been unlucky recently in races, how will you do here this time around?

I'm not even gonna guess at that anymore, i just know i will have no excuses come the end of the race cos im in the car that won the last 3 races.

Q: How is the driver hunt going? Or is this switch going to be permanent?

Dunno, nothings been said to anyone yet, then we have a break - before back to back races in Canada and USA, so anything could happen before then, but i would assume nothing will be sorted until after.

Q: Any Comments on JTMs Performance?

Well - they did a nice qual, both in top 10, what more can we ask from the team, nice from Juan in top 6, its going to be a nice race.

3rd - Ryan McConkey (MMC Racing - BMW)

Q: Welcome Ryan! 3rd on the grid, an impressive result for the MMC team, how did it go?

Thanks! It went really really well. I'm happy with this result. The car felt really nice, and I managed to get a clean lap. It felt really good when I did that laptime, a feeling I haven't had in a long while. It's good to have it back, definately!

Q: Is this the return to form that we have all been expecting?

Well, I think so! I've had more time the past 2 weeks to really concentrate on what it is I'm doing, and it has really motivated me. And this result motivates me even more. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this trend going till the end of the season.

Q: What are you expecting from the race? Can you and Sleighty score points or even a podium?

Race wise, I don't expect an easy race as it's really close times in qualifying, so you have to keep an eye out for a lot of people. I really feel though, that with my car setup and my stronger determination I can drive a consistant race and hopefully I can get some much needed points. I think Sleighty will do well in the race, he is always improving his times and I feel that during the race he might go better than he did in qualifying. A podium result for me would be amazing! A result like that would motivate me to drive even faster at the next races and probably never let up!

Q. Good luck for the race Ryan, any celebrations tonight after qualifying?

A. Thank you, yes there will definately be some kind of celebration! It will probably consist of a bottle of champagne, a hot chick, and me all in my motorhome! I'm looking forward to it.