QUALIFYING – DAY 3 (23-33rd place)
93rd Indianapolis 500
NOTES - Saturday, May 16, 2009

DOORNBOS FASTEST QUALIFIER ON DAY 3 FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS 500; WILL START 23RD FOR THE 93RD INDY 500

FASTEST OF DAY & P23:
Robert Doornbos 4-lap avg. speed of 221.692 mph (L1: 221.738, L2: 221.660, L3: 222.014, L4: 221.356)

Robert Doornbos, No. 06T Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “There was so much stress involved since I missed qualifying last week. It was the most stressful four laps I have done in my whole career just because there was a lot of pressure on this run. I found myself qualifying for a race that I was doing race setups for yesterday for a race I wasn’t even in yet. I hardly slept the last couple of days. We had to crawl back from such a deep, deep hole. We made a mistake and here you pay a big price for it. It’s a weird feeling and I hope I never experience it again. We can just have a clean one next year and get in on the first day. To come back like we did show a lot of character for the team and myself. It’s good to be in the show, we did some good laps. You have to respect the place. From the first laps we were really on the pace. Arie (Luyendyk), at one stage said ‘I’m going back to Phoenix because you don’t need me anymore.’ We did 223’s and 224’s at the beginning of the month but progressed too fast and it caught us out and we crashed after taking too much downforce out. To come back from that, you need a lot of backbone as we saw in Holland. You need to motivate each other and that’s what we did. It’s good to be in the show, we can only go up. It was so windy that it was like I was sailing in Turn 1. I had a good first lap and improved each lap by the third lap and on the last lap I had a mega, mega wind gust and had to really lift which hurt my average but it’s good to be qualified. To be the fastest today was our target and I’m glad we achieved it.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his first Indy 500 and third time to drive on this track after running here in the 2005 (Jordan GP test/Friday driver) and 2006 (Red Bull Racing) Formula One events…The Indy 500 will be his second-ever start on an oval. Qualified second in his oval debut in Kansas…Has competed against fellow ICS drivers Marco Andretti (A1GP), Danica Patrick (Formula Ford), Ryan Briscoe (F3) and E.J. Viso (F3000)…Two-time Indy 500 winner and fellow Dutchman Arie Luyendyk is serving as an advisor to Doornbos. Luyendyk won the 500 in 1990 and 1997 and is the only driver from the Netherlands to win the Indy 500 to date…Leads the Rookie of the Year standings.

1 POLE (1987) & TWO SECONDS AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (IMS) FOR NHR/NHLR: The 2009 entry will mark the 17th year for NHR/NHLR in the event and the fourth since 1995. Prior to 2009, the team prepared a total of 25 entries for drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal. Rahal and Robert Doornbos compete for the team in 2009 and will bring the total to 27. NHR’s highest finish in the Indy 500 is second place with Mario Andretti in 1985 and Michael Andretti in 1991 although team drivers have led many laps here. Mario Andretti also brought the team its highest start in the event when he won the pole position in 1987. NHR’s 2004 entry of Junqueira marked the first time for the team to compete here since 1995 and they returned in 2005 with Junqueira and IMS rookie Bourdais. In 2008 they ran Wilson and Rahal here during a transition season in the series but both made contact and retired in 27th and 33rd respectively. They have earned Rookie of the Year once, with Mansell in 1993 when he finished third.