‘It was a disaster’: Timo Glock eyes turnaround after Dorr McLaren Changes

Timo Glock labelled his 2025 DTM campaign “a disaster” and is targeting a reset for the new season after significant changes were made to his Dorr McLaren to address key concerns.

“Last year no longer exists for me,” said the former Formula 1 driver, who failed to finish higher than 10th in 2025. “In terms of results, it was a disaster. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong with my car, and luck in racing was not on my side.”

While the team made progress over the course of last season, Glock pointed to major changes behind the scenes during the winter.

“A lot was restructured again, with new personnel and management coming in who changed certain areas,” he said, referring to the arrival of new GT3 head Volker Strycek and the departure of two key confidants, including his race engineer.

Glock now has a new engineer and admits the limited preparation time has made it difficult to build an immediate understanding. Technical issues further hampered his running at the official test day in Spielberg, where he spent a significant portion of the session in the garage.

 Limited mileage in disrupted winter programme

Glock’s pre-season preparations were heavily compromised by a lack of track time. He completed just one day at the Pirelli test in Le Castellet in November, and at that stage his new race engineer, Gerd Kusstatscher, had not yet joined the team.

Commitments in F1 also kept him away from the Vallelunga test in early March, where he was working as a TV pundit at the season-opener in Melbourne. As a result, team-mate Ben Dorr took over driving duties during the team’s private test at Anneau du Rhin.

The second Vallelunga test later in March marked the first opportunity for Glock and Kusstatscher to work together, but restrictions during tyre comparison testing limited teams to running a single car. Engine problems on the second day further reduced running, with Glock and Dorr completing just 44 laps combined.

 McLaren changes target key weakness

Addressing Glock’s feedback was central to Dorr Motorsport’s winter development programme, with team manager Axel Funke highlighting a lack of feedback at the limit as the driver’s main concern.

“Timo’s biggest criticism of the car is that it provides very little feedback at the limit,” said Funke. “You suddenly lose grip, and with it, confidence and the sense of how far you can push.”

In response, the team worked in coordination with the Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB) to modify the suspension kinematics of the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, aiming to improve drivability and tyre warm-up through a softer set-up.

Within the FIA’s strict GT3 homologation framework, the team utilised permitted tolerances of plus or minus five millimetres at the suspension mounting points. By flipping a bracket that connects the wishbone to the chassis, Dorr effectively shifted the geometry within those limits.

“We’ve just shifted the zero point,” Funke explained. “The centre of the pyramid is at plus three – now we flip it and it’s at minus three. That creates a six-millimetre difference, so we simply commit to never mounting the bracket in its original orientation again.”

Further deviations under DTM regulations

Additional changes include reprogramming the ABS system, which is allowed without re-homologation, and switching brake supplier from McLaren’s homologated partner Alcon to TM Performance for the 2026 season.

Funke described the move as both a performance and financial decision, with added sponsorship playing a role. The switch is permitted under DTM-specific regulations, which allow certain deviations from FIA homologation provided approval is obtained from the DMSB.

To ensure fairness, Dorr has agreed with rival teams to use TM brakes consistently throughout the season, avoiding any circuit-specific changes that could influence the Balance of Performance.

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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