Doornbos outperforms teammates

During the two Friday Free Practise sessions at the Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia), Robert Doornbos again positively surprised many people in the F1 paddock by outperforming his teammates (and racedrivers) Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro.

By clocking an impressive 1:37.878 at the 5,543 kilometer long track near Kuala Lumpur, Jordan Grand Prix's third and reserve testdriver was over one second faster as Karthikeyan and even two seconds ahead of Monteiro!

Like the previous Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne (Australia), Doornbos again drove the most laps (20) of all drivers during the first one-hour lasting Free Practise session. By testing both of Bridgestone's tyre compounds under similar circumstances, Doornbos started off with two stints of nine laps each.

Under the forecasted extreme weather conditions (Air Temp 37ºC, Track Temp 57ºC, Humidity Level of 40%) the 23-year old Dutchman eventually set a best laptime of 1:40.289 (P18), after having improved his laptimes lap-by-lap.

After having collected much usefull data for the team about the Bridgestone tyres, the Toyota engine and the car's set-up in Free Practise 02, Doornbos also had some time left at the end of the day to go out on a lower fuel level.

With a personal best laptime of 1:37.878, good enough for P17, the 2004 FIA International F3000 Rookie of the Year again put all eyes on him as he was over one second ahead of his teammate Narain Karthikeyan and almost even two seconds faster as Tiago Monteiro.

Robert Doornbos:

"I enjoyed a very positive day with the team, as we were able to collect a lot of data about our Bridgestone tyres, the Toyota-engine and our car's settings. I ran with both high and low fuel settings, practiced pitstops, and tested Bridgestone's two different tyre compounds. As both the weather and track conditions are quite extreme by the exceptio nal temperatures of both here, it's very important to get a good understanding of all aspects."

"Next to that, I'm pretty satisfied about my personal performance as well, as I was able to set competitive laptimes at the end of the session. My fastest lap wasn't even an ideal one, as I had to overtake a BAR in the final hairpin of that lap. With the data collected in today's two Free Practises, I hope to be of great support to Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro for the remainder of this weekend."

-www.robertdoornbos.com-