Toyota To Retain Timo Glock For Next Season
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Aug 04, 2008
This is an update to:
Timo Glock’s Unexpected Finish At Hungarian GP
Toyota Racing
The 26-year-old German drove with great skill and determination to finish second just two weeks after departing his home German Grand Prix in an ambulance following a heavy crash.
Both he and his senior teammate Italian veteran Jarno Trulli are expected to keep their seats with the Toyota team after a run of solid results.
“We intend to keep both of our drivers,” said Toyota team chief John Howett. “I’m just happy that Timo had a really strong race here.
“Jarno would have had a stronger race if he hadn’t been caught behind Mark Webber because of a bad start. Overall I’m very happy we had a strong result.
The big-budget Japanese manufacturer - recovering from a couple of distinctly underwhelming campaigns in the top flight in 2006 and 2007 - has now notched up 35 points this season, seeing the squad open out a four-point advantage over former double world champions Renault in the closely-fought scrap over fourth place in the constructors’ title chase.
“I really can’t find the words to celebrate this result,” team principal Tadashi Yamashima enthused after Glock’s magnificent second place at the Hungaroring, “the best of our season. We had a few difficulties in practice, but during qualifying the drivers pushed themselves to the limit and things got better and better.
German’s retention, in the form of a “new contract” for 2009, is a “reward” for his impressive run to second place in Hungary at the weekend.
But as the German news agency SID points out, the 26-year-old reigning GP2 champion already has a contract that is valid also for 2009 and probably also 2010.
“The whole weekend, I was faster than my teammate,” Glock said. “It shows that if the car is right, I can show my potential.”
“No-one should think that we will now be on the podium all the time,” he insisted. “Our problem has been consistency, but I hope we can start to turn that around starting now.”
