Skoda complete tests in France and Finland.

The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team has been hard at work testing for the coming 2005 season.

Tests have been taking place in recent weeks in the south of France and northern Finland in preparation for the first two events of the new season - Monte Carlo and Sweden.

Armin Schwarz and Alex Bengue carried out the Monte Carlo testing as they will be the team's two nominated drivers for World Championship points on that event.

Schwarz was pleased with the test.

"The weather was quite mixed which made it a good test for the Monte Carlo Rally," he stated.

"Of course with the new compact route we will again lose even more classic stages and that will reduce the risk of snow but the test went well and if the conditions are right we can get a good result."

Bengue meanwhile concentrated on getting used to the Skoda Fabia WRC in preparation for what will be his debut with the car and only his second attempt at the World's most famous rally.

"I did Monte in 2001 with a Peugeot 106 so this will be very different! The Fabia WRC felt nice to drive but my driving style is less aggressive than Armin's so I will need to work a bit on a slightly different set up," said Bengue.

"I'm not going to make any predictions about the possible result until I've had more time in the car."

For last week's snow testing Skoda headed for northern Finland where new team signing Janne Tuohino and Audi Sport's DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom drove the car on separate occasions.

Both will join Schwarz for the Swedish rally in the first three-car entry of the season.

"I was very happy with how quickly I adapted to the car," commented Tuohino. "We drove maybe 320kms and it felt very good in the snow. I feel really confident about getting into it for Sweden.

"More testing would be nice but if that doesn't happen then it won't be a big problem because I think we can already get a good result."

Ekstrom was also happy, however he is hoping to get at least one more test in the car before the event.

"I just concentrated on driving the car and getting the feel for how it behaved," he explained. "I made a few contacts with the snow banks but overall I felt I was getting quicker with every run. This wasn't the first time I've driven the Fabia WRC but it was my first proper test in the car so I wasn't driving 100 per cent - maybe just 99 per cent!

"I am hoping to have another test before the rally and then I will be happier. I've got no idea about how well I will do in competition so for now I'm just hoping for a clean run and we will see what happens."

The Monte Carlo Rally takes place on January 21-23, with the Swedish Rally being held three weeks later, February 11-13.