August 15, 2004
The FinOz team undertook a Q & A session with Juha Tanskanen shortly before his loan deal came to fruition with Mapes-VO. Still being relevant, the Press release has been issued for publication by FinOz boss Kari Koski.

Personal facts:

Name: Juha Tanskanen

Nationality: Finnish

Day of birth: 2nd of February 1987

Lives: Outokumpu, Finland

Marital status: Single

Stats:

Sim racing started: 2003

Leagues raced: IGPC, F1VWC

Career highlight: 7th in USA GP 2004 (IGP3Champs Nordic Racing)

Current racing league: F1VWC and IGP3Champs (Nordic Racing)

F1VWC Team: FinOz Racing

Interview:

Q: Tell us about yourself, what kind of person is Juha Tanskanen on and off track?

A: Well i have lot of ambition on and off track. On track i´m aggressive when we talk about racing and calculative when it comes to testing and i always give my full input for the team, no matter what the situation is.. Off track Juha is different many ways, not aggressive or so calculative, more like a laid back and chill out type of person.

Q: You are currently FinOz Racing test driver at F1VWC, what is your exact job at the team?

A: Well, The main part of my job in this season is to take part to the development process of the car, which means that my job is mainly testing outside of the race weekends in pre-season and season tests.

Q: You must wish to get racing driver role soon, or are you happy with the current role?

A: Actually, if i am honest now, i am more than happy with my current role, because i feel that this is the best way to develop as a racing driver. but if someone would offer me a race seat for some races i would be happy to accept it, it would be a good way to see what my race pace is at the moment.

Q: You have quite little experience from Sim racing, but can you analyse what are your strongest points? Do you have something to develope still?

A: Well i guess that at this point my strongest points are ability to analyse the car and the way that i can give a feedback of the car to the team and i also can learn new tracks fastly and driving a completely new car wouldn´t be so big problem either. Something to develop.... well, mainly becoming a faster and better driver thats simply it.

Q: You have travelled all races with FinOz during F1VWC season and been ready to jump in if there is any need during race weekend, so you have had a good chance to watch team at work. What makes FinOz so strong they currently are?

A: Well FinOz is a very well organized team. We have a very good atmosphere inside the team and our work morale is very high. We also give 125% input for the team on and off track. I think that these are the main points that make FinOz so strong team as currently are.

Q: Have there been any suprises among teams or drivers this year or are the results and standings pretty much you thinked it would be before the season started?

A: Well pretty much, yes. Only thing what has really suprised me is the "weak" performance of Phoenix F1. I expected them to be much stronger before the season started. Actually i thought that Phoenix F1 would be our main rivial this season, but now at this point it seems that EIRE is our main rivial and Phoenix F1 is not.

Q: Thanks for this interview Juha and good luck for the rest of the season. Hopefully we will see you soon back behind the FinOz wheel.

A: It was my pleasure, Thanks.