NEC: Koiranen bros. Motorsport 2008 preview

Koiranen bros. Motorsport ready for the new season!

After a long winter, the Finnish team is ready to take part once again in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup.

After a very successful campaign in 2007, culminating with two victories in the final round, and 3rd place in the overall standings of the Formula Renault NEC with rookie driver Valtteri Bottas, the team embarks on the new season with two drivers, Daniel Aho from Finland and Dutch newcomer Bart Hylkema.

Chief Engineer Jari Koiranen is looking forward to the new season:

"This year we will focus once again on the Formula Renault NEC, but it is possible that we participate in some races of other championships as well."

"We're very happy with our two drivers. Even if they are both quite inexperienced, we believe that they can make good progress this year. Daniel did some races with us last year, with very interesting results, and now he should be able to be on the pace with the frontrunners. Bart is did some tests already and we think he will pick things up after the first few races of the season, and expect him to get some strong results by the end of the year."

"I am very excited about the new season! I will move from Karting to Formula Renault. I was really impressed with the car in the tests I did so far. The NEC will be a very competitive championship, running on famous circuits. It is going to be a great challenge for me! My goals for this season are to learn and make good progress, and I think Koiranen bros. can give me the support to achieve that. I have my final exams in May, so until then it will not be possible to test as much as we would like. After that we will increase our testing programme and work hard to get some good results!", commented rookie driver Bart Hylkema.

Daniel Aho commented that "After doing a few races last year I'm really looking forward to doing the full season in the NEC! I want to get some good results, and hope to be on the podium a few times. Next month we begin testing in Zandvoort, Nurburgring and Hockenheim. This last one is very important because that's where we have the first race."

The team, known for its developing work with talented rookie drivers, such as Valtteri Bottas or Atte Mustonen, is busy making final preparations to their cars and equipment, before moving to their base near Koln, Germany, ahead of the first tests of the season.

The Formula Renault NEC kicks off on April 27th at the famous Hockenheim circuit, in Germany. This year's calendar includes, for the first time, an event in Finland, at the Alastaro Circuit.

-credit: koiranenbros.net