Doornbos's first competitive sport was tennis. His interest in motorsport was sparked after attending the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as a guest of the Williams F1 team. It was 1997 Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve who encouraged him to pursue single-seater racing, suggesting he enter a series such as Formula Ford rather than karting, as he was considered too old and too large for karts at that stage. Doornbos gave up tennis and joined the JR racing team for the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter series, finishing second in the championship with four pole positions, four fastest laps, and four wins.
In 2000, Doornbos competed in the Formula Ford Zetec Benelux series, finishing second in the Belgian championship and fifth overall. He returned to Britain in 2001 for the Scholarship class of the British Formula Three championship with FGR Racing, finishing fifth with two poles, two wins, and nine podiums, including a notable second place in the Formula Three support race at the British Grand Prix. He moved to German Formula Three with Team Ghinzani, taking four podiums and finishing sixth at the Macau Grand Prix. Remaining with the team for 2003, Doornbos entered the European Formula Three Championship, visiting the podium seven times and taking pole at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula Three Masters.
With Red Bull backing, Doornbos joined Arden International — the reigning International Formula 3000 champions — for the 2004 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship. Partnered with Vitantonio Liuzzi, he finished third in the championship and was named Rookie of the Year, taking a race win at Spa-Francorchamps among his four podium finishes.
Ahead of the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, Doornbos was appointed official Friday test driver for Jordan, replacing Timo Glock. He impressed over the remaining races and was retained for 2005 under the team's new ownership.
On 19 July 2005, Doornbos was promoted to a Minardi race seat for the German Grand Prix onwards, replacing Patrick Friesacher. In his Formula One race debut, he collided with Jacques Villeneuve — the very driver who had first encouraged him to race. He started a total of eight Grands Prix for Minardi, with his best classified result being 13th in both the Turkish and Belgian races. Doornbos effectively became Minardi's last Formula One driver: the team was acquired by Red Bull just before the Belgian Grand Prix and reborn as Scuderia Toro Rosso, with Doornbos departing at the season's end.
Unable to secure a race drive for 2006, Doornbos was appointed test and reserve driver at Red Bull Racing by Christian Horner, his former F3000 team boss who had become the team's Sporting Director. Doornbos performed strongly in Friday practice sessions throughout the year, frequently appearing in the top ten and occasionally in the top three. He was promoted to a race seat for the final three races of the season after Christian Klien was dropped following the Italian Grand Prix. He qualified inside the top ten in his first race back in China, but contact with Robert Kubica at the opening corner compromised his race and he finished 12th. At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Doornbos was involved in an incident with Fernando Alonso that resulted in a two-second qualifying penalty for the Spaniard. Doornbos was retained as a test driver for 2007 alongside Michael Ammermüller.
With no Formula One race seat available for 2007, Doornbos signed with Minardi Team USA for the final Champ Car World Series season. He made an immediate impression, qualifying third and finishing second in his debut at the Vegas Grand Prix — the first rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993 to podium in his first Champ Car race. He later won the 2007 Mont-Tremblant Grand Prix in Canada, taking joint championship leadership with Sébastien Bourdais, and added a second victory at the 2007 San Jose Grand Prix, where a first-lap incident that stripped his front wing inadvertently placed him on an alternate pit strategy that proved decisive. Doornbos finished third in the final Champ Car standings and won the Roshfrans Rookie of the Year award. The ESPN broadcast team dubbed him "Bobby D," a nickname he reportedly embraced. After the announcement of the Champ Car and IndyCar Series merger, the Minardi-aligned portion of the team elected not to continue, leaving Doornbos without a drive.
Doornbos competed in the inaugural 2008 Superleague Formula season driving for A.C. Milan, finishing third overall, and drove for Team Netherlands in the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season alongside Jeroen Bleekemolen. The team finished fourth in the championship, with both drivers recording one sprint-race victory each. In 2009, Doornbos entered the IndyCar Series with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Coached on oval technique by fellow Dutchman Arie Luyendyk, he started from the front row at Kansas after championship contenders Dario Franchitti and Hélio Castroneves were disqualified from qualifying, briefly led the race before a pit stop penalty dropped him out of contention. He left Newman/Haas/Lanigan after 12 races, as permitted by a clause in his contract, and signed with HVM Racing for the remainder of the season, though a planned 2010 continuation did not materialise.
Following his driving career, Doornbos co-founded Kiiroo, a Dutch technology company. He subsequently became active as a Formula 1 analyst for Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.
Gallery · 3 related images
