Unable to find F1 work, Dutchman opts for Superleague role.
Out of work since Minardi Team USA opted not to join the unified IndyCar Series in the USA, sometime Red Bull Racing test driver Robert Doornbos has opted to join the new Superleague Formula at the wheel of the AC Milan entry.
GT outfit Scuderia Playteam, which will run the Italian team's car this season, revealed Doornbos' involvement in the series, which kicks off at Donington Park in August, while the Dutchman said that he was delighted to be donning the club's famous red-and-black colours and following in the footsteps of many famous countrymen.
"I am very pleased to have reached an agreement with Scuderia Playteam and to take on this important responsibility of driving for the team at the official tests in Barcelona and Montmelo in July," Doornbos commented, "For me, it is really exciting since I've always been a huge AC Milan fan.
"My aunt Jeanine actually used to be the physiotherapist of Dutch players Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit and, at school, I could brag and proudly show all the latest club stickers to my friends. Now they have left or retired, but current Dutch champion Clarence Seedorf, who is currently at the club, is one of my best friends."
Former Minardi pilot Doornbos will find familiar faces at the head of the Scuderia Playteam operation, which is managed by Giancarlo Minardi's son and engineered by
his first chief engineer, Gabriele Tredozi, when he gets behind the wheel of the purpose-built 750-horsepower V12-engined car
Unlike A1GP, the nationality of each car's driver does not necessarily have to come from the same country as the club he is representing, mirroring football's increasing cosmopolitan make-up.
"We're very pleased to have signed Robert," Scuderia Playteam Team owner and founder Giambattista Giannoccaro said, "It is precisely because of his extensive motor racing experience, and his obvious adaptability to widely differing types of machinery, that we felt he could be a real asset to us in this new adventure with AC Milan."
To date, 20 clubs have signed up to the grid, with AC Milan facing opposition from fellow European champions FC Porto, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla amongst others. Ironically, Doornbos will be competing against Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.....
