Maxime Martin celebrates 20 seasons since the first participation in 24H Spa, heading for the 33-year record in a row?
This year, the Belgian racer is preparing for his second participation in this race with Mercedes-AMG, but after deleting the qualification times, we already know that it will be challenging.
Martin is one of the legends of racing in category GT3. Not only did he celebrate the 24H Spa win in 2016, but he also had a GT World Challenge win on Misan alongside Valentine Rossi. But now he's coming home.
"For me and my family, of course, this is a special matter. This thing came a long time ago, long before I was born. My father raced here and won four times, so we have a rich history.
But it's hard for me to say what my first memory of this race is. I remember 1992, which is almost yesterday (laughs). My father won this race for the fourth time, and after the race, we had a party.
He had pictures in every T-shirt of the team he raced for. But we didn't get those pictures until after many months. That was funny, especially the first memory of 24H in Spa.
I came here a lot with my father, but then of course I raced a lot, "says the Belgian.
The first participation came exactly 20 years ago, then Martin started in a purely Belgian crew and behind the Belgian team First Motorsport.
" In 2006 I first started here with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Back then, we had three categories - GT1, GT2 and Cup. I was on the Belgian team, but what was amazing was that I got here in my second racing season because I started my career in 2005.
It was especially extraordinary because my father also started the race at the time. But it was a GT2 Ferrari, but it was still special. "
The victory in 2016, then with the BMW, entered the pilot in the statistics in gold letters.
"Victory in Spa in 2016 is probably one of my biggest memories in my career. But it was a big surprise, because before that, I drove to Marc VDS with a BMW Z4 that was close to winning, but never won.
For 2016 we brought a new M6, which was not expected much because it was new. But we got lucky in the race, which is why we won. "
Martin will be wearing a special helmet this weekend on a big anniversary that maps all of his starts.
" I have a special helmet, which is also in a miniature by Spark. All 20 races I left are on them. It's a special anniversary. So I hope if I win after 10 years, I win after 20. Then we try after thirty, "adds the racer.
