Robert Doornbos Silverstone test notes 2004-03-24

Wet & Windy FIA International F3000 Test For Robert Doornbos at Silverstone

Engeland -- Silverstone, 24th March 2004 Last Tuesday and Wednesday, the second official FIA International F3000 test took place at Silverstone (England) under wet weather conditions. Robert Doornbos, competing for the reigning champion team Arden International, was eighth on Tuesday afternoon (1:37.435). On Wednesday the Dutch ace took fifth spot, which was only a few tenths apart from the fastest laptime of his experienced teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi

With less than 30 days before the Formula 3000 championship begins at Imola (Italy), all nine F3000-teams were present at a rainy Silverstone. Doornbos and Liuzzi did not take part of the Monday morning session due to the heavy rain. Robert: "Due to bad weather conditions, it was better to stay in. We already have a good set-up and we're not willing to take any risks of damaging the car. Fortunately, the track dried up in the afternoon so I was able to drive twelve laps."

Today, Robert had three new sets of tyres at his disposal, since he only used one set yesterday. Robert: "Unfortunately, the day started as rainy as Monday. When I took my car out on the track at the end of the morningsession, I had the misfortune of a broken rear suspension at a time the track was at its quickest. Therefore I had to watch the others setting their fastest times while I was waiting inside. At the moment my car was repaired, it started to rain again..."

For Robert Doornbos this test was not all lost. Robert: "On the contrary. This series is very demanding and it proves again that a driver needs to give 110% every lap in order to be competitive. This is very different from the F3 EuroSeries in which I competed last year. At Silverstone, there are also long lunch breaks, so testing time is limited. I look forward to the n ext test at Barcelona. The weather conditions over there are ideal most of the time and I hope that we can put some mileage on the track. After all, that is the way you can learn the most!"

Robert Doornbos will stay around Silverstone the next few days as the team has scheduled a private session at a closed airport to practice mainly starts and pitstops. The next FIA International F3000 test of Robert will take place at Barcelona (Spain) on 13th and 14th April.

-f1im-