Timo Glock is back in DTM! After only two race weekends, the ex-Formula 1 driver is making a surprising comeback. The BMW works driver will be a guest driver in the third DTM race weekend (17-19 June) at the legendary Imola Grand Prix circuit, and he will do so with the team of ex-DTM champion Roberto Ravaglia. “Racing in DTM together with Roberto Ravaglia and his team is a cool story,” the 40-year-old is looking forward to his comeback in the long-standing series.
After nine years, Timo Glock, born in Lindenfels in the German Odenwald region, had stepped down from DTM at the end of the 2021 season. With BMW, he competed in a total of 146 races and achieved, next to six pole positions, five race wins and 15 podium results. Both in 2018 and 2020, Glock ended up fifth in the DTM drivers’ standings. For the 2022 season, the car manufacturer from Munich had dispatched him to the Italian GT championship. Together with fellow works driver Jens Klingmann (GER), Glock got his campaign off to a good start at Monza by winning the first race and coming second in the second race.
“The new M4 suits me well,” Glock found out. On the other hand, the 51-time Grand Prix driver is well aware of the huge task he is facing upon his DTM return: “With Michelin, DTM is using a different tyre from the one in the Italian championship. Opportunities for preparation are few because availability of tyres is very limited due to the general supply chain issues,” Glock reports. “The timed pit stop is a new task for the team, too. All in all, it is a huge challenge, but a great story, one to which I am really looking forward.”
For Roberto Ravaglia, anticipation is huge, too. “Being back in DTM after so many years is really exciting. I know the thrill from 1989 when I won the DTM title as a driver. Now, I am lucky to be participating in DTM as the Ceccato Racing team manager at the legendary Imola circuit, and in the 50th anniversary year of BMW M, no less,” says Ravaglia, who racked up six wins and five pole positions in DTM between 1988 and 1992.
Roberto Ravaglia knows which status DTM still has today. “I am aware that DTM is one of the most spectacular and hardest-fought championships a driver or a team wants to win.” Prior to the guest participation on home soil, the Italian also knows about the challenge: “It will not be easy for our team to just step into a championship that is running, and that just for one race weekend. However, our motivation is very high, we will be doing our utmost.” Therefore, Ravaglia is quite confident as well: “I know that I can rely on a competitive car like the BMW M4 and a super motivated driver like Timo Glock.”
With two wins last time out at Lausitzring Turn 1 powered by Autohero, Sheldon van der Linde from the Schubert Motorsport team has shown the potential of the new BMW M4. At Imola, the venue for the fifth and sixth race of the season, the South African will be racing as the DTM points’ leader for the first time.
Source. DTM
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