An interview with Maxime Martin: "Driving for a Belgian team as a Belgian makes you feel a bit patriotic."

Munich (DE), 21st April 2016. When the new DTM season gets underway
in Hockenheim on 7th May, Bruno Spengler (CA), Marco Wittmann (DE),
António Félix da Costa (PT), Timo Glock (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR), Tom
Blomqvist (GB), Maxime Martin (BE) and Martin Tomczyk (DE) will be in
the cockpits of the eight BMW M4 DTMs for BMW Motorsport. We introduce
each of our BMW DTM drivers in a series of interviews while we wait.

Maxime Martin, BMW Team RBM, #36 SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM.

The 2016 DTM season sees you race for a new team, BMW Team
RBM. A Belgian driver in a Belgian team, that must be the perfect
fit …
Maxime Martin: “It’s a brand new chapter
for me. I had a fantastic time in my two years with BMW Team RMG:
Rookie of the Year and seventh overall in 2014 and 2015; a win and a
pole position every season. Driving for a Belgian team as a Belgian
means things will be quite different. It really makes me feel a bit
patriotic. It is important that we work well together. RBM is a very
good team that has delivered very good performances in the DTM for
many years. I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

Tom Blomqvist is your new team-mate. How well do you guys get on?

Martin: “Very well. Tom is a great colleague, really nice and
extremely fast. I’m very pleased to be in the same team as him. And
I’m sure we will work well together in the future to bring the team forward.”

At 22, Tom is still very young. You might be a little older,
but you haven’t been in the DTM all that long. Can he learn anything
from you?

Martin: “I don’t know if I can teach him anything about the DTM
because I don’t have much more experience than him. But I have already
driven in various other series. So I have gained some experience that
I might be able to pass on to Tom. But as far as the DTM is concerned,
he already knows what he is doing.”

How satisfied are you with the preparations for the season and
the testing?

Martin: “Preparations went really well. Unfortunately, we didn’t
have much opportunity for testing; ultimately we only have two days
before the season starts. After six months of not sitting in a DTM car
that isn’t a lot. You need to find your rhythm and the right set-up.
The test in Hockenheim was really important for that. I think that we
did a really good job. But in the end, the first qualifying session in
Hockenheim will show where we really are.”

What are your goals for your third DTM season?

Martin: “Being better. I finished seventh in the drivers’
standings twice. So the goal for this season is to finish higher than
seventh place.”

You also compete in a lot of GT races; in North America, in
24-hour races, in the Blancpain GT Series. Is that an exciting
change to the DTM?

Martin: “Naturally the DTM and GT races are totally different,
with different cars, different driving styles and a different
atmosphere. But I like this change because it keeps you in the racing
rhythm. That’s very important in my opinion. I have contested a lot of
races in my career to date and will try to keep doing that. I’m happy
to be at BMW and to always have good conditions in the GT races and be
able to win. And it’s the same in the DTM. If I am able to win, then I
want to.”

You drive the BMW M4 DTM and the BMW M6 GT3. How difficult is
it for a driver to switch back and forth between these very
different tasks?

Martin: “Naturally, you always need a bit of time to get used to
the change. But when you know the series and how they work, it’s not
really that difficult because you don’t have to learn something
totally new. It usually only takes a little while, and gets easier the
more often you do it.”

You have also got to know a lot of racetracks in the various
series. Which is your favourite track?

Martin: “That’s a good question. There are two that I really
like. One is definitely Spa-Francorchamps, because it’s in my home
country. But my absolute favourite is the Nürburgring, which I know
really well now. The Nordschleife is totally different from any other
track on which you can drive. Twenty-five kilometres, every lap is a
new challenge that needs to be mastered. It doesn’t get much better
than that.”

What are your plans for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring?

Martin: “I also want to do better there than in previous years.
I finished second twice and fourth once. I want to win this year. We
aren’t competing in the BMW M6 GT3 just to take part. We will try to
get the win. I was close to it more than once in recent years, I was
in the lead for a long time, but never won. Almost like in Spa. I hope
that I will have more luck with the BMW M6 GT3.”

The preparations are going pretty well with third place and
pole position in the qualifying race aren’t they?

Martin: “We are improving the car all the time. Our pole
position confirmed this. We need to take note of every detail and
continue to learn as much as possible. But the fact that we were so
fast in the qualifying race is a good sign. We have a strong overall
package with the BMW M6 GT3, which is improving with each outing.”

How do you like the new racing version of the BMW M6?

Martin: “The car looks really big from the outside. But it
doesn’t feel like that when you are driving it. The BMW M6 is very
agile. We have an excellent engine. The BMW M6 has a lot of potential,
but it is our first season, we still need to make some developments
and keep working hard to get wins with this fantastic car.”

You contest a lot of races, so you are on the road a lot and
often busy. What do you do when you have a free day?

Martin: “That doesn’t happen very often. Then I try to relax a
bit at home with my fiancée, and to work out a little, which I can do
anywhere more or less. However, the priority is to relax with family.”

You are expecting a new addition to the family this year. Are
you already excited?

Martin: “I’m really excited already. Our baby is due in
September. It’s going to be a close call since the due date is around
our DTM races in Budapest. It’s going to be a completely new task for
us. I’ve taken on a lot of challenges in motorsport, but this will be
the most important one of my life, and the most difficult. But I’m
really looking forward to it.”