The
Spanish F3000 weekend race started at the circuit of Catalunya,
with free practice and the official qualifying session, today.
An
impressive Robert Doornbos confirmed to be one of the best rookie
by clinching a best lap time of 1: that secures him the 4th position
on the starting grid for the race, that will be held tomorrow at
16.15 (local time).
After
a promising test on the Spanish track, last 13th /14th March where
rookie Robert finished 3rd overall, he was confident in today's
free practice and qualifying. His expectations were confirmed by
his performance during the first free session where Robert opted
to use a new set of tyres and work on the set up of his car. On
a cloudy sky the FIA F3000 qualifying session started with Team
Arden drivers in top positions with the Dutch lying 2nd. On a slippery
track Robert could not fully exploit his last set of tyre but could
anyway secured the 2nd row for tomorrow race.
Robert Doornbos - P4, 1:32.667
"I'm can be satisfied with my 4th fastest time. I knew we could
reach a good position on the grid. During the last official test,
here, the car was really well balanced. Today I decided to run some
laps in free practice, while the most other drivers preferred to
save one set of tyre for the race, because I wanted to check the
set up of my car. I just made two mistakes, finishing into the gravel,
and I lost two positions, but I'm happy because I'm really very
close to my team mate Liuzzi and Schroeder. I just can be confident
in tomorrow race, even if I'll start, like Tonio, from the dirty
side of the track".
Robert
will start from the 2nd row, alongside Schroeder 1:32.664.
The pole position was secured by Enrico Toccacelo (BCN) 1:32.300
Robert
Doornbos is actually 3rd in the Drivers standing with 6 points.
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