Robert
Doornbos

Robert Doornbos was born in Rotterdam on 23 September 1981. His first sport was tennis, and his interest in motor racing grew after Williams invited him to the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix. Jacques Villeneuve advised him to try a series such as Formula Ford, as he was too big and too old for karting. Doornbos gave up tennis, finished second in the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter Series and fifth in the 2000 Formula Ford Zetec Benelux series. In 2001 he raced in the Scholarship class of British Formula Three and took fifth place, then moved to German Formula Three with Ghinzani and contested the European Formula Three Championship in 2003. In 2004, backed by Red Bull, he joined Arden in International Formula 3000. He won a race at Spa-Francorchamps, finished third in the championship and was named Rookie of the Year.

His Formula One career began as Friday test driver for Jordan from the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, a role he kept in 2005. From the German Grand Prix that year he raced for Minardi, replacing Patrick Friesacher, and held a Monégasque licence. He collided with Villeneuve in his first race. He started eight races for the team, with 13th place in both Turkey and Belgium as his best results. Red Bull bought Minardi shortly before the Belgian Grand Prix, and at the end of 2005 the team became Toro Rosso. In the season finale he retired on the final lap. He ended the championship 25th.

In 2006 he found no race seat and became Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver. After the Italian Grand Prix the team dropped Christian Klien, and Doornbos drove the last three races alongside David Coulthard. In China he qualified in the top ten, but he touched Robert Kubica at the first corner and the delay left him 12th at the finish. He ended the season 24th in the standings. In total he made eleven starts.

After that, Doornbos drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 Champ Car World Series. He finished second in the first race of the season and later won at Mont-Tremblant and San Jose. He finished third in the championship and was Rookie of the Year. In 2008 he raced for AC Milan in Superleague Formula and finished third. In the 2008-2009 A1 Grand Prix season he drove for Team Netherlands together with Jeroen Bleekemolen, with the two alternating races. In 2009 he entered the IndyCar Series, first with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and later with HVM Racing.

Source: Wikipedia, “Robert Doornbos”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.