Zolder: Robert Doornbos event summary

THIRD PLACE FOR ROBERT IN RACE 1

The Belgian round of the Superleague Formula championship was held on the Zolder circuit. This was the home race for the Azerti team, which runs the Corinthians car.

During qualifying Robert Doornbos immediately set the fastest time in his group, a time which he even improved on during his quarter final against Sevilla. For the second race weekend in a row both Azerti drivers faced each other in the semi final. On home turf the RSC Anderlecht car with Davide Rigon behind the wheel was a tiny bit quicker. This resulted in a 4th place on the grid for Corinthians, despite Robert Doornbos putting in the fastest lap of the day.

The start of race 1 was very good for Corinthians with the team gaining a position by passing FC Basel. A good pitstop by the Azerti team meant Robert Doornbos could keep his third place on the podium until the finish.

Robert Doornbos: "Finally a podium position! I am happy for Wim, the owner of Azerti, that our other car also joined me on the podium. Actually we had a bad start to the season but since the last race we found a better balance on the car, which made it faster. As a team we need to keep working hard but we are definitely going in the right direction."

The nice third place in the first race meant the Corinthians car had to start the second race with only 2 cars behind him. When the lights went green things immediately went wrong in the midfield. Robert Doornbos avoids the drama but then got hit totally unexpected into the first corner by Marcos Martinez of Sevilla, who was running without his rear wing. A somersault in the gravel trap meant a lot of damage for the black Corinthians car. Doornbos was taken to the medical centre for a check-up, but was luckily uninjured. He came back to the Azerti garage to follow the last part of the race.

Robert Doornbos: "I went to see Marcos Martinez to ask him for an explanation and he told me he wasn't aware of the fact he was driving without his front wing. That's why he braked normally, but without front wing and the downforce that comes with it, he was never going to make it into the corner!" The consequences are obvious, he hit me and I went somersaulting in the gravel trap."

The Azerti team has a lot of work to do to get the car ready, because the next race of Superleague Formula in Brands-Hatch, England, is only 2 weeks away.

-source: Robert Doornbos