Still at the back of the grid, Timo Glock is nonetheless heading towards the middle of the 2012 season in a better mood.
Earlier this year, still struggling for the third consecutive year to pull Marussia from the back of the pack, the highly rated German appeared out of sorts. He was at war with his Cosworth-powered car, and being genuinely outpaced by his rookie teammate Charles Pic.
“It was oversteering brutally,” Glock told Auto Motor und Sport, “and after only a few laps the tyres were done.”
The German suspected there was something fundamentally wrong with his chassis; a feeling confirmed when, at the Mugello test, he drove Pic’s race car. Modifications were made for Barcelona, but Glock’s problems persisted.
“I even started to wonder if I had forgotten how to drive,” Glock shrugged.
Eventually, the mystery was solved, and a flaw in the rear suspension wishbone mountings fixed. At Monaco, he looked back in the game — once again dominating young Frenchman Pic in qualifying, and lacking just half a second to the nearest Caterham. And Glock’s fastest race lap was just three tenths from a Caterham.
The next big step is Silverstone, where the 2012 Marussia will enjoy a substantial upgrade.
“If the data is right, then this is a really big step,” said Glock.
Source:GMM
