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Glock Began Virgin Talks After Suzuka

German driver Timo Glock admitted that he had taken the decision to leave Toyota F1 Team prior to the Japanese carmaker's announcement that it will leave the series by the end of 2009. In an interview with Formula One's official site, Glock confirmed that he spoke to Virgin Racing way before the season ended, as he knew his days at Cologne were numbered.

During the Suzuka qualifying session, Glock crashed his Toyota and sustained a serious injury in the process, leaving him sidelined for the rest of the weekend. Later on, it proved that his back and leg injury were more serious than initially predicted and the German remained sidelined for the remainder of the 2009 season – meaning the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.

However, some rumors suggested that Glock's injuries were not as serious as Toyota made them sound like, but a consequence of Toyota's decision to try out Kamui Kobayashi – a home grown talent – in the late stages of the season. Either way, Glock sensed something was not right and decided to take the matter into his own hand.

We started to negotiate with Virgin shortly after the Japanese Grand Prix. In my head I was probably ready to race for another team by Suzuka. At that time I hadn't any clue that Toyota would withdraw. It was only that I knew my time there was coming to an end,” said Glock, according to the Formula One official site.

Last month, shortly after the launch of Virgin Racing, team's owner Richard Branson told the media that Glock gave up a lot of money elsewhere to come and race for the British team in 2010. Alongside the German driver, the former Manor F1 team will field rookie driver Lucas di Grassi for their maiden F1 campaign.
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