Timo Glock's first German Grand Prix in front of his home fans this weekend ended with a bang as the right rear suspension on his Toyota failed just over halfway through the race, pitching his TF108 heavily into the pit wall.
The ensuing flying debris as the car spun back across the pit straight again brought out the safety car, whilst Glock – who had driven well on a long first stint to haul himself up from eleventh position on the grid into serious points-scoring contention, just behind team-mate
Jarno Trulli – seemingly emerged thankfully unscathed.
The accident marked the second hefty impact of the 26-year-old's fledgling career in the top flight, following that which befell him in the season-opening grand prix in Melbourne back in March, and brought to an end his run of seven straight finishes.
‘Timo is fine and there are no physical signs of injury,' read a team statement. ‘He has been taken to a hospital for further precautionary checks. Further updates will be given as soon as they are available.'
Indeed, Glock's dramatic end to the race was symptomatic of
Toyota's day all-round, as Jarno Trulli – who had qualified so strongly up in fourth place, matching his best starting position from the first half of the 2008 campaign – ultimately faded away following the safety car period, from a challenging fifth spot early on to ninth at the chequered flag, after a late slip allowed
Scuderia Toro Rosso's
Sebastian Vettel by into the final points-paying position.
“That was a disappointing race for me,” the Italian mused afterwards, “because we had high hopes of scoring points today. Everything was looking good early in the race but after our second stop, when we switched our strategy because of the safety car, it became really difficult.
“I was having problems with the balance. I struggled a lot and in the last ten laps it was really tough, but I was in eighth place and fighting really hard to get a point.
