Photo: BMW Motorsport

Timo Glock: “The race was two laps too short”

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BMW Team RMG driver Timo Glock had a roller-coaster day at the Lausitzring, with an impressive comeback to finish fourth in the race from 16th on the grid as the best-placed BMW driver.

Glock showed promising pace in qualifying, but a spin in the early stages put an end to his session.

“It was totally my fault,” Glock told TouringCarTimes.

“Coming out of Turn 1 the turbo kicked in very aggressively and I lost the rear. I was then stuck in the gravel trap and couldn’t get the car out, so it was frustrating to finish my quali after just three laps.”

The Team RMG driver started from the last spot on the grid, but soon made progress through the pack after a good start.

“We had good speed in wet conditions,” explained Glock. “I was looking at the Audis ahead of me and came in early in lap 11, which was the right call because we didn’t lose any time.”

Despite pitting earlier than his rivals, the German driver was able to continue pushing hard until the end of the race, going through the pack to finish in fourth place.

“The car felt good, and I didn’t have any tyre drop, so I kept fighting,” added Glock. “Unfortunately, the race was two laps too short, otherwise I could have got Robin (Frijns, Audi) and finish on the podium.”

RMG team-mate Marco Wittmann, who pitted a lap later, also felt the strategy was right, but there is still work to do to catch the Audis.

“The strategy was really good, as it allowed us to jump the Audis, but we are still missing the pace. Our tyre degradation was also important towards the end, whilst it seems that for them it isn’t so bad, so these are the challenges for us,” said Wittmann.

Team RBM driver Sheldon van der Linde was on a similar strategy to Glock, but could only manage to finish ninth, due to a technical issue.

“I think our strategy was absolutely right today pitting early,” Van der Linde explained to TouringCarTimes. “Unfortunately, the DRS wasn’t working during my second stint, and that was it for us. We had the potential to finish sixth or seventh today.”