Doornbos confirmed as Minardi Team USA driver in Champ Car Series
Minardi Team USA this afternoon confirmed that Red Bull reserve driver Robert Doornbos will race with the team in the Champ Car World Series this year. Doornbos has tested with the team throughout the winter and is joined by Dan Clarke, who impressed many in his rookie season last year.
The Champ Car season kicks off next weekend at the new Las vegas venue.
Robert Doornbos “I’m really pleased to be racing with Paul Stoddart, Keith Wiggins and Minardi Team USA. 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.”
“In addition, the engineering staff is strong, and we’ve made some solid progress developing the new DP01 Champ Car during the pre-season tests. I’m sure that will stand us in good stead once we arrive in Las Vegas, for the first race of the new season. I’m very excited at the prospect of being able to race in a full championship and, hopefully, be in a position to win races and challenge for the title.”
Paul Stoddart, Team Co-owner “It’s excellent news that Minardi Team USA has been able to sign the exciting driver pairing of Robert Doornbos and Dan Clarke for its first assault on the Champ Car World Series. The team will aim to hit the ground running at next weekend’s season-opening race, in Las Vegas, and will be looking to improve on its strong fourth-place finish in last year’s Championship standings.”
Keith Wiggins, Team Co-owner “I am very happy with the driver line-up we have for 2007. As we all know, it is a key ingredient to have good-quality drivers in your cars to be successful, especially as the equipment continues to be more equal among all the teams. This is not always possible in the motor sport business, but we, as a team, have always strived to get the best package we can in terms of performance, and have not lost sight of this, even during a rough year. I am therefore especially happy that we have been able to get these two in our team, with the added bonus of also having a quality reserve driver, in Zsolt Baumgartner. Both Robert and Dan have talent, and both have experience of different kinds, which will help the team progress to the next step, following a positive 2006 season.”
