Timo Glock took another step closer to becoming a fully-fledged Formula One driver earlier today when the Contract Recognition Board finally cleared up the confusion and allowed Glock to leave BMW and join rival team Toyota. Glock had been the German marques test driver during 2007, but the chance to gain a promotion and step up from GP2 driving was enough for Timo to put pen to paper. However, BMW believed they had Glock under contract, and thus the CRB were involved to decide. Currently, BMW have officially announced that Glock has left, but Toyota are yet to make an announcement.
The driver’s market is still up in the air at the moment, and even Jarno Trulli’s contract is apparently not set in stone yet as the Japanese team are awaiting Fernando Alonso’s decision. Everything, it seems, is resting on the Spaniard’s shoulders. However, it is unlikely that Alonso will drive for Toyota, not impossible, but unlikely. And after everything Timo and Toyota have been through with the CRB, the GP2 champion is also likely to be officially signed. It is thought an announcement could be made at a motorsport event in Tokyo next week where the motor manufacturing company will be present.
Timo has previously raced in Formula One, completing four races for the Jordan team in 2004. The German driver started well, finishing in seventh in his first race at Circuit Gilles Vileneuve in Canada. However, when he returned later in the year, Timo could only manage three 15th place finishes in the final trio of races. To be fair, 15th was about all the Jordan could manage at the time. Those two points earned in Canada though were important, and they probably helped Glock to remain in the back of many a team owner’s mind.
Unfortunately though, a contract wasn’t gifted to the driver in 2005 and he went to America to compete in Champ Car. Collecting 202 points and finishing 8th in the overall standings, Glock did well, but the itch to race in Europe continued and in 2006 he returned to compete in GP2. Two wins and a flurry of points set him up good for 2007 where the absence of the dominating-Hamilton meant Glock could serenely cruise to the title with iSport. Timo did suffer a few retirements (and I’m sure it wasn’t as easy as he made it out to be), but the wins in between assured him of the title.
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