Doornbos begins 2006 with seat fitting

After having enjoyed a short break in the Swiss snow, Robert Doornbos travelled to the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes last Thursday in order to fit a new seat for the team’s brand new 2006 F1 car. Insight F1 caught up with the ‘Flying Dutchman’ to find out all about his latest news!

RD: “For sure! My 2006 season kicked-off back in December when I started testing in Barcelona. Among others, I’ve visited the team’s factory in MK, attended the shakedown of the RB2 at Silverstone and visited the Red Bull Hangar7 complex in Salzburg since then. That’s no problem at all as when I signed my contract, the team already told me to expect to spend more time in airplanes than at killing time at home. So yes, you could definitely say Red Bull has already given me wings, haha!”

RD: “Like other years, I spend it together with my family and a couple of close friends in Villars (SUI). I found some time to grab my snowboard, enjoy some dinner parties, and ofcourse had enough time to relax after a busy season following my F1 debut with Minardi. On from New Year’s day I left my snowboard in the corner to start some serious training. Instead of speeding down slopes, I climbed them by foot! Next to this, I did some swimming, some running, etc.”

RD: “Yep, that’s right! As the ECU and the cableboom is in a slightly different place in the RB2, I’ve been to the factory to fit myself a new seat before the testing continues. Because I’m quite tall (1,82m) it’s always a little bit of a struggle to find a comfortable position in the car, but we succeeded just well I think. I prefer to position myself in such a way that I can just see the upper surface of the tyres when sitting in the car.”

RD: “Next week David (Coulthard) and Christian (Klien) will kick off 2006 in Jerez de la Frontera. I will be back behind the wheel on from January 24 in Barcelona. As we will only drive the new car, this will be my acquaintance with the new chassis and the Ferrari engines. David told me the RB2 was a ‘sexy thing’, so I can hardly wait to start testing again!”

RD: “Definitely, in January I will be pretty busy! Together with my teammates I will visit the Autosport International show in Birmingham, where we will have some fun in go-karts, do some interviews on stage and ofcourse spend time with the fans. The week after that I’m heading to Kitzbühel where the KitzCharity Trophy is held. This is a annual ski race which attracts 100,000 spectators every year! This year both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso will also participate, so I’m teaming up with DC, Christian Klien and our Sporting Director Christian Horner. So please keep your fingers crossed, haha! Next to this we’ve also planned my first Fanclub meeting end January, which will be full of both fun and action!”