Timo Glock was disqualified from the event after he was caught doing 112kph through a 60kph slow zone at the Nurburgring, with stewards also withdrawing his DPN licence.
The former Formula One driver was at the wheel of the Benetton-liveried No. 69 McLaren 720S-GT3 when he arrived at the zone just before midnight and was clocked at almost double the permitted speed in the early morning hours. Stewards handed Glock two penalty points for the infringement, then ruled that his previous two penalty points at the 24h Qualifiers left them with no room to let the breach stand.
“[The] Immediate disqualification of the driver T. Glock for this event and a general withdrawal of the DPN license,” the stewards said. They added: “The Stewards examined all evidence and heard from the competitors representitive. After they determined that the driver T. Glock received two Penalty Points during this event, previously he did receive two Penalty Points at the 24h Qualifiers, the Stewards imposed the above penalty.”
The ruling hit the No. 69 car as well, although it can continue in the hands of Ben Dorr, Timo Scheider and Marvin Kirchhofer. The car had already been given an 82-second penalty and a separate 33-second sanction for failing to comply with the minimum pitstop time, and it was also under investigation for another Code 60 violation. With four and a half hours remaining, it sat in 15th place.
Slow zones at the Nordschleife are used when there is an accident or track blockage, a system meant to avoid bringing out a safety car over the 25.4km layout. Boards, flags and light signals mark the area, where the speed is first cut to 120kph before drivers reach the stricter limit, and recovery vehicles including trucks are often present on track. That is the backdrop to the decision against Glock, and it is why the penalty landed so hard: in a setting built around control, he was moving at 112kph where 60kph was required.
What happens next for the car is clearer than what happened to its driver. The No. 69 entry remains alive, but Glock’s race was effectively over the moment stewards decided the violation and his prior penalties crossed the line.
