P21 FOR ROBERT DOORNBOS IN CHINESE CHALLENGE source: robertdoornbos.com On the Shanghai International Circuit, Robert Doornbos acquired today in the free practices, that took place before the Grand Prix of China, a 21st position. Doornbos, who made his debut in the Formula 1 as a test-driver one year ago, drove during the two practice sessions on the 5.451 kilometers long circuit a total of 36 laps and was able to realize his quickest lap time of 1:36.993. Herewith the Minardi driver left behind his teammate Christian Albers, as well as both drivers of Jordan Grand Prix. On the warm morning in Shanghai where temperatures rose till 23 degrees Celsius, the Formula 1 teams were working on the already last free practices of this race season. This would mean that this was going to be the last performances of the Fomula 1 team Minardi, that in China will drive the last race in their history. Minardi drivers Robert Doornbos and his teammate obtained in the first free practices the 23rd and 24th position. The difference between both Dutch drivers was just a matter of six hundredth of a second. In the second free practice between 14:00 and 15:00 o' clock local time, the Italy based driver accelerated continuously his speed on the hypermodern circuit. After 22 laps Doornbos gained a sharp time of 1:36.993, herewith he will start tomorrow's qualifications with confidence. After the two practices, which had a duration of both one hour, Doornbos who lately turned 24 years old was satisfied about his achievements. ROBERT DOORNBOS: "It gave me a good feeling to be back on the track where I made my debut last year. It is a fantastic circuit which provides a lot of good facilities to the drivers. In the first free practices we looked for a basic set-up for the PS05, but looking at the times we were not able to get near to others. During the lunch the team worked extremely hard on making changes to the set-up and assembled new gadgets brought from Italy on the car. Because of this, I managed to gain speed in the closing session with used tyres. I had this great moment before I reached the first corner of the circuit, with new tyres I namely almost lost the back of the car. I am very content with the acquired results and with a lot of confidence I look forward to the remaining weekend. Hopefully we are able to keep the grip on today's speed!"
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