Doornbos to combine test and race roles 29 Mar 2007
Official Red Bull test driver Robert Doornbos will not be getting race rusty this year thanks to a deal with former boss Paul Stoddart to compete in the 2007 Champ Car series. Doornbos will combine his Formula One commitments with a Minardi Team USA race seat.
Doornbos raced for Stoddart’s Minardi Formula One squad back in 2005 before the team was sold to Red Bull and renamed Toro Rosso. The Dutchman also has Grand Prix experience with Jordan and last year replaced Christian Klien at Red Bull for the last three rounds of the championship.
“I’m really pleased to be racing with Paul Stoddart, Keith Wiggins and Minardi Team USA,” said Doornbos. “It’s obviously a different Minardi team from the one I last drove for, in Formula One, but there is still the same, close-knit, family feeling about it that I like.”
Another Formula One race veteran, Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner, will serve as the team’s reserve driver. Baumgartner started 20 Grands Prix in 2003-2004 with Jordan and Minardi.
