Doornbos third in afternoon practice

The Dutch fans at the Hockenheim grandstands had good reasons to be proud of their nation's flag today. At the four-and-a-half kilometer long Hockenheimring, Robert Doornbos set the third fastest time in today's free practise sessions ahead of the German Grand Prix.

Robert Doornbos.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver himself was happy with his performance. "I've always enjoyed being here, but this result makes it feel extra special!" said the 24-year old Dutchman.

As usual Doornbos used the opening session between 11:00 and 12:00 o'clock to find a good basic set-up before he completed an extensive tyre evaluation programme. Separated over four runs, Doornbos drove 25 laps in total in this first hour of practise. His best laptime of 1:17.835 handed him a notable fifth position.

As rainfall hit the track during the lunchbreak, Doornbos waited to get back into action for the first 30 minutes in the afternoon session. After the track dried, he did three runs in which he continued the programme he started this morning. By clocking 1:16.549 just seconds before the flag dropped, Doornbos found himself back in a superb third position at the end of the day!

Robert Doornbos:

"This result gives me a really good feeling. Not only were we able to improve the car bit by bit during the sessions, I'm also pretty satisfied by the laptime I set this afternoon. It looks like we are pretty competitive here, so I hope we can keep the momentum."

"I've always been fond of this circuit, especially after I made my race debut here last year. Like always, there are a lot of Dutch fans at the grandstands, so I hope they enjoyed the action today!"

-www.robertdoornbos.com-