According to Timo Glock, the Spielberg test proves that he was out of contention at the Sachsenring due to a tire problem: What will happen with McLaren in Austria?
Was a poor set of tires the reason why Timo Glock was not competitive at the Sachsenring on Sunday? According to the veteran driver, the test day in Spielberg a week ago provided the proof. “In the morning, we sorted out a few things from the Sachsenring that had been bothering us because we weren’t really able to shine in qualifying on Sunday,” explains Glock. “It was confirmed that we were once again unlucky with the tire set.”
The Pirelli set, with which Glock finished only 23rd and thus second to last, while his teammate Ben Dörr was 1.107 seconds faster and finished tenth, “simply offered no stability.” “We put it back on here and it was exactly the same,” Glock described his experience from the test. “I was half a second slower with a 50-kilometer-old wheel than with a 170-kilometer-old one.”
Therefore, it must have been the tire set, “because as soon as we put the tires back on here, the balance wasn’t there either,” Glock feels vindicated, having suffered another retirement in Sunday’s race at the Sachsenring due to a gearbox problem, while his teammate Dörr sensationally clinched McLaren’s first podium finish in the DTM, only to be disqualified.
Brake balance adjuster “took on a life of its own” for mysterious reasons
Glock had also been unlucky at the Sachsenring on Saturday: in qualifying, a problem with the front axle brake system prevented the planned heat soak, which is used to warm up the tires via radiation. Although the problem was solved at short notice, the former Formula 1 driver had to compete without warmed-up front tires, unlike his rivals, and finished 14th. His teammate Dörr only managed 17th place. “It was a shame at Sachsenring because we had good speed in the race,” said Glock, who finished 13th in Saturday’s race ahead of his teammate in 19th place, lamenting a better result. “On Saturday, the brake balance adjuster somehow took on a life of its own for mysterious reasons,” he explained the mishap in qualifying.
How could something like that happen? “No idea,” replied Glock. “I can’t explain how two screws on the gearbox could fall off and then the gearbox could come off the car during the pit stop,” he said, referring to the reason for the retirement in Sunday’s race.
Glock’s assessment of Spielberg: “Fast corners suit us”
But what will happen at the Red Bull Ring? During testing, Ben Dörr set the fastest time of the day with 1:27.986, which basically shows that the McLaren also performs well on the Formula 1 track in Austria. For Glock, who finished sixth, 0.296 seconds behind, things didn’t go quite so smoothly once again, as the five-time DTM race winner had to sit out part of the afternoon due to a turbo problem.
However, the times should be taken with a pinch of salt, as the Balance of Performance had not yet been published at that point. Nevertheless, Glock is cautiously optimistic. “I think the characteristics of the fast corners, especially in the second and third sectors, suit us quite well, just like at the Sachsenring,” he says. “The rest, the hairpin at the top and the downhill right-hander, is the car’s Achilles heel.”
Due to its long straights and smooth asphalt, the Red Bull Ring is considered a track where it is difficult to get the tires up to temperature. However, during testing, this went surprisingly well for the McLaren team Dörr Motorsport. Nevertheless, unlike at the Sachsenring, there is no single lap in which the tires deliver maximum performance. “In terms of the asphalt and the warm-up, there isn’t really a peak for the tires,” he explains. “You drive three, four, five tenths faster with a new wheel for four or five laps—and then somehow nothing happens.”