The Williams-
BMW team has acted fast to secure the services of promising Estonian single-seater driver Marko Asmer, signing the FFord star to a testing deal for the rest of the season, and possibly beyond.
Asmer, currently racing in the British FFord series with some success, has previously conducted straight-line runs for the Grove team before getting his first proper run-out at Barcelona in July, where he ran alongside the big names of
Formula One for the first time.
“Marko proved himself to be a keen and competent worker in the car, and provided us with some great feedback,“ chief operations engineer Sam Michael said, explaining some of the reasons why the team has signed the Estonian to partner Marc Gene over the final few months of 2003.
Still only 19 years of age, Asmer has only recently graduated from the frenetic world of top level karting, where helped the works Tony Kart team to championship honours and bolstered a personal reputation built on success in his national and regional competitions. This year is his first in single-seaters, having sampled FFord for the first time during the short winter season before moving into the British Championship with Team JLR. Although not among the frontrunners immediately, the Estonian did claim a notable win double at
Croft in early summer.
How Asmer's signing affects erstwhile occasional tester Ricardo Sperafico remains to be seen, as the Brazilian F3000 runner's outings with
Williams have been scarce this season.
