Name: Hans Verwirren Glimmer
Make/Model/Year: 2000 Mercedes CLK Touring Car base, rebodied and re-engined for Piston Cup specifications.
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Eyes: Green
Team & Number: Pennziere Distilled Oil #57
Color Scheme: Black on front half except yellow hood, Yellow back-half except black trunk, with alternating yellow and black stripes in the middle, thick enough to allow the number 57 in opposite colors. Pennziere logo written in bright red with the "I" dotted with a black droplet.
Voice Actor: Paul Bettany
Theme Song: "Cells (Instrumental)" - The Servant
Bio:
Hans Glimmer was manufactured as a regular CLK430 coupe in Stuttgart, West Germany to a Mercedes father and a BMW mother. He has a younger brother, a BMW 5-series studying to be a businesscar. For most of his early life he lived in Bonn, where his father worked for the Chrysler-Daimler Union Party in the West German government. After the Iron Curtain fell he and his family moved to Berlin.
Hans Glimmer gained an admiration for racing and racing cars at an early age. As soon as he mastered his basic driving education he enrolled in a small racing school that emphasized the thrill of the race rather than victory itself, something he did enjoy. While he did gain some rather formidable race techniques there his weight (CLKs being significantly bigger than
SLKs) and overall bulkiness ended up leaving him in the dust in pretty much all of his first races, and digging a hollow gap in his (metaphorical) heart that he desired to fill...and he quickly figured that the only thing that could fill it was victory. After a particularly humiliating test trial for Germany's prestigious Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft he found himself back at the small races growing less and less involved in the passion of racing, and increasing desperate to realize that concept called "victory".
Just before the dawn of the millenium, Glimmer volunteered out of desperation - and a prematurely career-ending accident at Hockenheim - for an experimental "race-readiness" program (run by what he noticed were a rather ominous, shadowy set of Eastern Bloc cars and large, executive Benzes that those on his side of the Wall dubbed "Ossis" or even the Russians themselves) as a last resort to earn some real racing talent. His parents believed - or made to believe - that he had been accepted to a prestigious racing academy elsewhere in the free side of Europe, and in fact he was trained in a special facility and circuit in the Swiss Alps. Over the course of the program he was meticulously re-assembled and trained in a highly rigorous driving regimen that effectively bred him for his career in the newly-renamed Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. It was a mystery even to Glimmer as to how their special reconstruction of him was even able to pass the regulations test. The resulting car was an engineering marvel, but also - at least in appearance - a literal silhouette of his former self, almost blindly loyal to his masters.
At 24 he has won the last four DTM Championships as Team AMG DeFrancke Communications' famous #2 "Silber Zwei." His ice-cold precise Chrome-Silver "glimmer" slowly but surely gained as much recognition as Schumacher's raging and fiery Ferrari Scarlet, if only within the boundaries of the European Union. But the only parts of Glimmer that seemed warm during his DTM career was his rather effeminate tone of voice (which he rarely uses) and his engine. The look on his fascia throughout each season had slowly begun changing from Eastern Bloc Robotic to generally depressed, almost lonely. His managers initially retuned that at the start of the first few seasons, but they have recently put that part of the regimen on hiatus seeing as how it has not caused any changes to his racing line that they would be concerned about. In return for the constant stream of victories, Glimmer never questioned his managers for any ulterior motives they might have had other than to share in his prosperity in the racing world.
As for his parents, they seem to have come to terms with the fact that their son's all grown up, and still occasionally come to his races just to cheer him on.
Now his "managers" have decided to test out Glimmer's potential in racing outside of the Euro-circuits, having him re-bodied and supplied with a special engine from AMG for participation in North America's most famous non-open-wheel racing series, the Piston Cup. The "makeover" has also left Glimmer farther from his original CLK430 self than he was prior to entering the program, the most obvious example being that his once-functional set of double-circle headlamps, taillights and grille are now just decals.
Of the few offers made to them by Piston Cup teams hoping to challenge Lightning McQueen's and Chick Hicks' recent dominance of the championship, his managers selected CarTer Racing, with Pennziere as the sponsor. CTR have also selected a top-notch pit crew and crew chief(which also had to be approved by Glimmer's "managers," the latter being the "intermediary" between them and their racer).
Glimmer's demeanor is predictably cold, aloof, distant, and mostly sterile, but the rampant suppression for the vibrant passion of life and racing did not kill it off completely, leaving him with a rather odd assortment of almost infantile sensory interests. Glimmer has grown a fascination with other cars' exhaust pipes, particularly chromed ones with nicely rounded openings. Whether they're actually the
tailpipes or come out the car's sides doesn't seem to matter to him. Some say it might be a result of an addiction to exhaust fumes, subconsciously ingrained from his years being left in the dust before his current winning streak. He had also started to hang out at clubs (which he can enter without hassle, being a VIP racer and all) in the little amount of time he can get a break off his training regimen, if only to enjoy the colored lights shining off his shapely, silvery figure. Naturally, the "Silber Zwei's" literally
glimmering appearance at clubs also garnered the attention and quite a bit of attraction from girls
and guys, but he has acted rather cold toward them (oddly enough, colder toward the girls than the guys). Whether this pleasure will change as he dons the regular gloss colors of Pennziere Racing remains to be seen. On another, vaguely related note, when displayed orientation videos of the Piston Cup and recent developments there, Glimmer actually - and probably unconsciously - started redlining at the sight of a certain Car #95. He also muttered a single word with a very audible sign of emotion: "Blitz." Of course, he is not aware of their names, only that they are there for him to beat. After all, victory is all that matters to him, isn't it?
Likes: Racing, especially the technique. Seems it's the only thing he really cares about apart from the sensory delicacies.
Dislikes: Pretty much anything not having to do with racing.
Strengths: On the track, he is a specialist; cold, calculating and strategic. He is also morally above literally forcing cars off the track through contact, though he is very good at blocking and some forms of psychological warfare. Being German-built, even as a race car, has also made his sheetmetal and frame close to Panzer-tough compared to other Piston Cup racers, though a hard enough impact will still disorient him just like any car.
Weaknesses: The concept of a slipstream is very alien to him, even with his fascination for cars' tailpipes, which could compromise his blocking ability. Despite his training and "re-orientation" he is also still very unfamiliar with high-speed oval racing, as well as the use of steeply-banked curves. Since he hasn't been "emotionally tuned" for some time, it might actually be easier to toy with his own psychology during the race.
Real life equivalent, from DTM days (replace the 2 in the D2 with a similarly-styled FC and you get a good idea of the logo):
