Doornbos in tropical conditions
Under tropical conditions, Robert Doornbos successfully completed a busy programme for Red Bull Racing today. In the afternoon session, the 24-year old Dutchman only focussed on racestint simulations by fulfilling two longruns of 14 laps each. At the 5.543 kilometer long track near the Malaysian capital, Doornbos drove 46 laps in total, in which he set a personal best time of 1:37.604 already in the openingssession today.
Different to last weekend in Bahrain Red Bull Racing did not concentrate at finding the correct set-up for qualifying today, but the Milton Keynes outfit decided to work towards Sunday’s 56 lap race instead. The unusual high temperatures (air/track) and humidity demanded a sound judgment in the behaviour of both compounds of tyres Michelin brought with them for this race as well as the expected tyrewear, before the team can make a solid decision on which choice to make.
The first session between 11:00 and 12:00 hours was used by Doornbos to find a good basic set-up for his RB2 and to make a start with the extensive tyre-evaluation
programme. Separated over three runs, RBR’s test- and reservedriver drove 18 laps under relative ‘cool’ conditions in which he set a fastest time of 1:37.604 handing
him 8th position.
With a tracktemperature of 43 degrees Celsius and an air temperature of only a few degrees less, the team assigned Doornbos to complete two longruns in the afternoon session to collect further data on the tyres. In two runs of 14 laps each, Doornbos focussed on producing a sequence of constant laps on heavy fuel, without making any
attempts to set a quick laptime.
Robert Doornbos “Today was pretty hectic! Because I enjoyed a good physical preparation with my trainer in the last few days, I was able to drive a sort of a
mini GP today! In the morning session we did some set-up work while carrying a constant fuelload and still managed to be in the top 10 the entire session, just behind both the Ferrari’s. This afternoon I simulated half a Grand Prix distance inclusing formation laps and pitstops. After we have examined all data tonight, we will make the right decision regarding our tyrechoice. I guess this will will be very important for our fortune in the the remainder of this weekend.”
