How Timo Glock’s first test in the Dörr McLaren went, how he rates his new car and what he hopes for from his youngster teammate Ben Dörr
What is possible for Timo Glock in his DTM comeback in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo? The ex-Formula 1 driver tested the Dörr Motorsport team’s mid-engine turbo car back in December before the official announcement to get a feel for it.
“We did a day of testing at Hockenheim,” the 42-year-old confirms. ‘The weather might not have been ideal. It was a bit cold, but that didn’t matter. The point was to get a feel for the car.’ But what impression did Glock get?
“After a few laps, it was relatively clear to me how to understand the car and what to do, because in the end it’s a GT3 car like any other,“ Glock does not want to make a science out of it. You know ‘the strengths and weaknesses’ of the car.
”We have to sort out the weaknesses over the winter”
The 720S GT3 Evo is considered a difficult car on high curbs, as the car with low ground clearance is only just coming into its own. In addition, slow, twisty corners are not the optimal terrain for the turbo car.
“We just have to sort out the weaknesses over the winter,” demands Glock. ”And then create a basis for us where we know that it works on every racetrack. That’s the goal for the winter test drives.”
Glock is keen to point out that his surprise comeback three years after his retirement as a DTM driver with the BMW team Rowe Racing is not a return from retirement. “I never hung up my helmet,” he clarifies.
“There were a lot of people who thought I had hung up my helmet, but that’s not the case. I kept doing a few races in between, including the 24-hour race,” he says, referring to last year, when he sat in the BMW M4 GT4, but also made a guest start in the Porsche Supercup and was at the start on the Nordschleife in the Falken Porsche.
What goals Glock has set himself for the comeback year
“The chance to return to the DTM – and with McLaren, with Rainer, with Team Dörr – is a great challenge, I think. I really want to do it,” says Glock, who, by the way, was already a topic with Rainer Dörr’s team last year, looking forward to his unexpected comeback.
But what is possible for the former backbencher team, which only really mixed it up with fourth place in the front row at Zandvoort with predecessor Clemens Schmid? “For me, it’s just important that we take a step forward, that we are competitive. And preferably as early as the first race,” says Glock.
The goal is to achieve regular top-10 finishes and, if possible, first podium finishes. By the way, his teammate is youngster Ben Dörr, who already drove the McLaren last year. The son of the team owner turns 20 at the end of January. So is Glock on his own when it comes to moving the team forward?
Glock on teammate Ben Dörr: “Can’t do it alone”
“I think that you can learn a thing or two from the young people who are now coming into motorsport, because it’s certainly different today than it was in my day,” says Glock. “That’s why I think I can learn a thing or two from Ben.”
But he also knows from his own experience, which he is happy to share with Dörr, and says he expects to be able to push the team forward together with the youngster. “I can’t do it alone,” says Glock. “You always have to do it as a team when it comes to developing the car. And that’s why I think we’ll be in a very good position.”
