“Bobby D” is back on top with his second win of the 2007 Champ Car World Series season at the San Jose Grand Prix when an amazing drive from a 15-place starting position allowed the Dutch racer to close the gap to 10 points to Championship leader, Sebastien Bourdais.

“We like that – what a race!  Before anything else, I want to thank all the guys,” Robert said. “We had so much bad luck earlier in the weekend and they worked really hard to get us back on track.  After I hit the back of Jan Heylen’s car in that tight hairpin on the first lap, I thought we were in trouble, but I was able to get to the pits and change the nose.  After that, the car felt good, although the steering was obviously bent a little, as the wheel was off-center.  This was a great way to come back after two poor races for us.”

As many anticipated, getting through the first turn on the opening lap was always going to be a critical aspect of the race, and so it turned out to. Doornbos was forced to enter turn one so slowly as the field bunched up in front of him that he nearly stalled the car.  He made it through, but on the exit, ran into the back of Jan Heylen’s car.  The impact knocked the nose off Robert’s car and ultimately resulted in a full-course yellow when his car came stalled in the middle of the track.

Once restarted, Robert was able to pit for a new nose assembly and then catch up to the safety car in last place.  As the this particular “Flying Dutchman” has come to realize, however, when it comes to Champ Car, “It’s not over ‘til it’s over.”  With clever pit strategy and near qualifying-pace lap times, Doornbos came out on top of the charts in style.  After the race, he climbed the fence, waved to the exuberant fans, and put firmly to rest the question of whether or not he and Minardi Team USA can stay in the Championship fight.

 “Only in Champ Car could you have a race so action-packed from the lights to the chequered flag,” said a thrilled Paul Stoddart. “From a first-lap incident that put Robert to the back of the field to ‘Speedy’ Dan being in second place and then losing it on the restart after the full-course yellows, it was difficult to know where to look at times.  A fantastic drive by Robert, a brilliant recovery strategy by his engineer, Mike Cannon, and excellent pit stops by the team saw Robert come out in third place after his third stop.  Had the race continued without incident, it would have been enough to put him in first place, but then another full-course yellow and another great pit stop saw Robert emerge as the leader.  With the push-to-pass almost exhausted, Neel Jani overtook Robert, but then a gutsy and focused final few laps saw Robert retake the lead and the checkered flag.  What a race!”