Robert Doornbos

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Robert Michael Doornbos (Dutch pronunciation:

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway
.

Tennis player to racing driver

Doornbos's first sport was tennis. His interest in motorsport grew after he was invited to the

Williams F1. It was 1997 Formula One Champion Jacques Villeneuve who suggested that he should go for a series such as Formula Ford, as he was too big and too old to race karts. He gave up tennis and focused on racing, joining the JR racing team for the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter series. He had a successful season, finishing second in the championship after taking four pole positions, four fastest laps and four wins. In 2000, he competed in the Formula Ford
Zetec Benelux series, finishing second in the Belgian championship and fifth overall with one pole, three fastest laps and six podiums.

Formula 3 career

Returning to the UK in 2001, Doornbos contested the Scholarship class of the British Formula Three championship with FGR Racing. He finished the year fifth in the championship, taking two poles, two wins and nine podiums. He drew attention to himself with a second-place finish in the Formula Three support race to the British Grand Prix. He then moved to the German Formula Three championship with Team Ghinzani. He picked up four podiums, but no win. The year also featured a sixth-place finish in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. Continuing with the team in 2003, Doornbos competed in the European Formula Three Championship, visiting the podium seven times. He took pole position at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula Three Masters event, and finished second in Korea.

Formula 3000

With support from

FIA International Formula 3000 Championship. Partnered with Vitantonio Liuzzi, Doornbos claimed Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the championship. During the year, he took a fastest lap and four podium finishes, including a race win at Spa-Francorchamps
.

Formula One

Jordan (2004)

Prior to the

2005 season
.

Doornbos at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

Doornbos completed Friday testing duties for Jordan in all but two of the first 11 events of the year, with French

Renault F1 test driver Franck Montagny testing at the European Grand Prix, and Jordan being banned from using a third car at the Canadian Grand Prix after using too many tyres
at the previous race.

Minardi (2005)

On 19 July Doornbos was appointed as a Minardi race driver for the 2005 German Grand Prix onwards, replacing Austrian Patrick Friesacher, who had encountered sponsorship issues. In his first Formula One race, he collided with Jacques Villeneuve, the man who gave advice to Doornbos to start his career as a race driver. Doornbos raced a total of eight Grand Prix for the team, his best result being a 13th position in the Turkish and Belgian Grands Prix.

Doornbos and teammate

Zandvoort were it not for the fact that Doornbos raced with a Monegasque licence.[2]

Effectively, he became Minardi's last Formula One driver, since the team was bought by Red Bull just before the Belgian Grand Prix. In the final race of the season, Doornbos retired on the final lap while Albers had retired a few laps earlier.

Red Bull (2006)

Doornbos driving for Red Bull Racing at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Minardi team ceased to exist in its previous form at the end of 2005, being bought out by Red Bull and becoming their Scuderia Toro Rosso team. Doornbos was unable to find a race drive for 2006, but Christian Horner, his former F3000 boss, had since been appointed as Sporting Director of Red Bull Racing, where he was appointed the team's test and reserve driver.

He thus spent most of 2006 testing at the racetracks on Fridays, ready to step into a race drive if either David Coulthard or Christian Klien were unable to race. In his role as the Red Bull test driver, he once more showed his talents as a racing driver. In the majority of the Grand Prix tests on Fridays, he was to be found in the top 10, and a number of times he achieved a top three time.

At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, he was involved in a controversial incident with Fernando Alonso, which resulted in the Spaniard incurring a two-second qualifying penalty.

After the Italian Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing announced that Klien had been dropped from the team, Doornbos was promoted to the second race driver role alongside Coulthard for the remaining three races.[3] He entered with a bang by qualifying in the top 10 for his first race, in China. However, he touched Robert Kubica at the first corner during the race and the delay restricted him to 12th place at the finish.

He was subsequently signed as one of the team's test drivers for 2007, alongside Michael Ammermüller,[4] with Coulthard and Mark Webber taking the race seats.

Formula One demonstrations

In his role as Formula One test and racing driver, Robert Doornbos has given several demonstrations, both on tracks during other race events, as well as on public road. In the Netherlands, he has driven a Formula One car on public roads twice. In 2005, he was one of the drivers of the Monaco aan de Maas event in his hometown of Rotterdam. On 15 August 2006, he made the news with a fundraiser for the children of the 'Stichting Geluk en Vrijheid' (Foundation Happiness and Freedom). At a speed of 326 km/h (204 mph), he drove his Red Bull Formula One Car over the highway A7 on the Afsluitdijk in the Netherlands.[5]

Champ Car World Series

After missing a racing seat for the 2007 Formula One season, Robert Doornbos signed a contract with

Indy Car Series
was announced for 2008, the Minardi half of the team elected not to take part, reducing HVM Racing to a one-car team. This left Doornbos without a drive for 2008.

Superleague Formula

After failing to secure a seat with competitive teams in the unified

A.C. Milan in the Superleague Formula, a newly created racing series where the cars are sponsored by football clubs. The club's technical director is the son of Giancarlo Minardi, former owner of the Minardi Formula One team under its take over by Paul Stoddart
. Doornbos finished third in the inaugural 2008 season.

A1 Grand Prix

Doornbos and

A1 GP for Team Netherlands in the 2008–09 season.[6] The drivers alternated races. Team Netherlands finished 4th in the championship, with both drivers having scored one victory, both in sprint races.[7]

IndyCar Series

Doornbos contested the

2006. He took the lead after the first round of pit stops
, but on that first stop under yellow he bumped a stationary tyre in the pit stall ahead of him. He was penalised to the rear of the field and was no longer a factor.

On 4 August 2009 Doornbos posted on his official website that he was leaving

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing effective immediately. He stated that there was the option for him to leave the team after 12 races and he decided to take it. He also said that he would like to stay in IndyCar and would announce his future plans shortly.[8]

On 5 August 2009 Doornbos signed with HVM Racing in the IndyCar Series for the remainder of the 2009 and to drive for the team through 2010, however this did not happen.

After racing

Doornbos co-founded Kiiroo, a Dutch company involved in the production of sex toys.[9]

He is currently active as a Formula 1 analyst for Ziggo Sport.[10]

Motorsports career results

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Poles Wins Points Position
1999 Formula Ford 1800 Benelux Team JR Racing ? 4 4 ? 2nd
Formula Vauxhall Lotus Winter Series ? ? ? ? 2nd
2000 Formula Ford 1800 Benelux ? ? ? ? 58 5th
Formula Ford Zetec Netherlands ? ? ? ? 61 6th
Formula Ford Festival Sweeney/Hopper Racing 1 0 0 N/A NC
2001
British Formula 3
 Fred Goddard Racing (National Class) 26 1 2 182 5th
German Formula Three JB Motorsport 6 0 0 0 NC
2002 German Formula Three Team Ghinzani 18 0 0 17 11th
Italian Formula Three 1 0 0 4 11th
European Formula Three Cup
 1 0 0 N/A 11th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 N/A 6th
Korea Super Prix 1 0 0 N/A 8th
2003 Formula Three Euroseries Team Ghinzani 20 0 0 40 9th
Italian Formula Three 1 0 0 6 16th
British Formula 3
 Menu Motorsport 4 0 0 26 17th
Macau Grand Prix 2 0 0 N/A 16th
Korea Super Prix 1 0 0 N/A 2nd
Masters of Formula Three Team Ghinzani Euroc S.A.M. 1 0 0 N/A 18th
2004 International Formula 3000 Arden International 10 0 1 44 3rd
Formula One Jordan Ford Test driver
2005 Formula One Jordan Grand Prix Test driver
Minardi F1 Team 8 0 0 0 25th
2006 Formula One Red Bull Racing 3 0 0 0 24th
2007 Champ Car World Series Minardi Team USA 14 0 2 268 3rd
Formula One Red Bull Racing Test driver
2008 Superleague Formula
A.C. Milan
 9 2 2 267 3rd (1)
2008–09 A1GP Team Netherlands 6 1 1 75 (1) 4th (1)
2009 IndyCar Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 12 0 0 225 16th
HVM Racing 5 0 0
Source:[11]

(1) = Team standings

Complete Formula Three Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts
2003 Team Ghinzani Dallara F302/052 Mugen HOC
1
2 		HOC
2
8 		ADR
1
10 		ADR
2
6 		PAU
1
8 		PAU
2
DSQ 		NOR
1
12 		NOR
2
4 		LMS
1
NC 		LMS
2
8 		NÜR
1
3 		NÜR
2
Ret
A1R
1

10
A1R
2

8
ZAN
1

5
ZAN
2

7 		HOC
1
13 		HOC
2
Ret 		MAG
1
9 		MAG
2
2 		9th 40
Sources:[12][13]

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts
2004 Arden International
IMO

3
CAT

14 		MON
6 		NÜR
2 		MAG
5 		SIL
10 		HOC
4 		HUN
7 		SPA
1
MNZ

3 		3rd 44
Sources:[12][13]

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Pts
2004 Jordan Ford Jordan EJ14 Ford RS2 3.0 V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA CHN
TD 		JPN
TD 		BRA
TD 		– –
2005 Jordan Grand Prix Jordan EJ15
Toyota RVX-05 3.0 V10
 AUS
TD 		MAL
TD 		BHR
TD 		SMR
TD 		ESP
TD 		MON
TD 		EUR CAN USA
TD 		25th 0
Jordan EJ15B FRA
TD 		GBR
TD
Minardi F1 Team Minardi PS05 Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10 GER
18 		HUN
Ret 		TUR
13 		ITA
18 		BEL
13 		BRA
Ret 		JPN
14 		CHN
14†
2006 Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB2 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 BHR
TD 		MAL
TD 		AUS
TD 		SMR
TD 		EUR
TD 		ESP
TD 		MON
TD 		GBR
TD 		CAN
TD 		USA
TD 		FRA
TD 		GER
TD 		HUN
TD 		TUR
TD 		ITA
TD 		CHN
12 		JPN
13 		BRA
12 		24th 0
Sources:[13][14]

† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

ChampCar

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Pts Ref
2007
Minardi Team USA
 Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8 t
LVS

2 		LBH
13 		HOU
3
POR

3
CLE

2
MTT

1 		TOR
6 		EDM
11 		SJO
1 		ROA
14 		ZOL
7
ASN

13 		SRF
4 		MXC
16 		3rd 268 [15]

IndyCar Series

Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Pts Ref
2009 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara IR-05 06
HI7R V8
 STP
11 		LBH
9 		KAN
12 		INDY
28 		MIL
14 		TXS
11 		IOW
15 		RIR
9 		WGL
9 		TOR
23 		EDM
9 		KTY
19 		16th 283 [16]
HVM Racing 33 MDO
14 		SNM
10 		CHI
18 		MOT
16 		HMS
20
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Indianapolis 500
Wins 		Championships
1 2 17 0 0 0 5 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2009 Dallara Honda 23 28
N/H/L

Complete Superleague Formula results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

2008

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 Position Points
2008
A.C. Milan
 Scuderia Playteam
DON
NÜR
ZOL
EST
VAL
 JER 3rd 335
17 DNS 1 6 18 4 2 2 2 17 1 10
Source:[12]

2010–2011

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Position Points
2010 SC Corinthians Azerti Motorsport SIL ASS MAG JAR NÜR ZOL BRH ADR POR ORD BEI † NAV 12th 363
11 7 X 9 15 X 12 16 X 9 5 X 7 10 X 3 16 X 15 18 X 8 6 X 6 3 5 18 15 X DN DN C 9 15 X
2011 Netherlands Atech Reid Grand Prix
HOL
BEL
 16th 16
11 DN X
Japan 5 7 6 2nd 136
Source:[12]

† Non Championship round

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Pts Ref
2008–09 Netherlands NED
SPR 		NED
FEA 		CHN
SPR
2 		CHN
FEA
16 		MYS
SPR 		MYS
FEA 		NZL
SPR
3 		NZL
FEA
5 		RSA
SPR 		RSA
FEA 		POR
SPR
1 		POR
FEA
DNS 		GBR
SPR 		GBR
SPR 		4th 81 [17]
Source:[12]

References

  1. ^ "FIA Formula One World Championship Season Guide 2005". FIA. Archived from the original on 8 April 2006. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  2. ^ "2005 Formula One season entry list". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Grandprix.com article dated September 11, 2006". Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  4. ^ "Doornbos and Ammermueller both named as Red Bull testers". Grandprix.com. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2006.
  5. ^ "Video of the demonstration". Archived from the original on 26 March 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  6. ^ "A1GP nieuws". gpupdate.net. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008.
  7. ^ "Netherlands names its drivers". a1gp.com. 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  8. ^ "Robert leaves Newman Haas Lanigan Racing". Archived from the original on 7 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  9. ^ Taves, Max (22 January 2016) How tech is taking over your orgasm. CNET.com.
  10. ^ "Robert Doornbos – SMW". rsmstar.nl. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Driver: Robert Doornbos". Driver Database. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Robert Doornbos". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  13. ^ a b c "Robert Doornbos Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Robert Doornbos – Involvement". StatsF1. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Robert Doornbos – 2007 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Robert Doornbos – 2009 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Robert Doornbos – 2008 A1 Grand Prix Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 31 August 2023.

External links

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