Maxime Martin from WEC to IMSA with Aston Martin Racing

CRR: From BMW (See part 1/4) you jumped to Aston Martin for the World Endurance Championship between 2018 and 2020. Why this swap from one championship to the other and from one manufacturer to the other?

Maxime Martin: A lot of different things; there is no one thing that made me change. Mercedes announced that they would leave DTM end of 2018. It did put a big question mark for DTM at the time. I had always been in contact with Aston Martin and Prodrive which I knew from 2010 when I did a race with an Aston Martin. They asked me several times to be third driver at Le Mans. It never came together because of my contract with BMW.

They made contact again because they were coming with a new car, a new program with a big manufacturer effort from Aston Martin, a lot more commitment in GT3 racing. At the end I thought it was the right moment to change and have another experience somewhere else, do other races, try to win Le Mans which I did three years later. That is how it happened.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019.

When you have the feeling that for multiple reasons it is the time to change, you must take the opportunity and do it. There are a lot of drivers who say they want to change but also say they have a good contract and finally stay. When one feels it is the right time, one have to do it. At least for me.

CRR: It’s like any professional career!

Maxime Martin: Yes definitively. It is easier to stay where you are. BMW have always been happy with me; I keep very good contact with them. It is nothing personal to anyone.

CRR: The relational aspect seems very important because, again, it happened after several years of keeping contact.

Maxime Martin: It is very important for me. The human part of a team, of a manufacturer, of racing is more important than pure performance. We are racing, we must have performance but for me as a racing driver, being in an environment where I’m not feeling well is just not how I see it. Clearly the human part is very important. I have always got very long relationships with brands, with teams. I try to have good relations with people; it is not possible with everyone. It is like what I do now in ETCR with Romeo Ferraris and the Giulia, the human part of it is very important. For sure we are competitive, but it is a family team, at a human size and that is what I am looking for. It was the same with Marc VDS with whom I stayed a long time, even during my contract with BMW, I continued racing with them. I’ve been five years with BMW, now five years with Aston Martin. I don’t want to change for change. When you are well with people, you must try to stay, optimize and be in a good environment.

CRR: Outside of the 2020 Le Mans win which I guess is your best moment in WEC during those 3 seasons, is there another moment you want to share with us?

Maxime Martin: Obviously to win Le Mans was the best achievement. We won a few races in WEC but I would say winning Spa 6 Hours in very hard conditions, with snow, very tough and very close racing. It is still the case now in WEC. There are only five cars but It is wheel to tail and big fight. That is something I really liked in the WEC. It would be better with a lot more cars but even with that small amount, with that close racing, it shows the performance of the cars, the drivers and the teams. That is really nice to leave from inside. 📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2019.

CRR: IN 2021, you were still in contract with Aston Martin but raced with Porsche cars. How can that happen?

Maxime Martin: (big laugh) that is special! It came step by step. First, in 2020 when COVID emerged, we didn’t really know what would happen, we were supposed to run N24 (24 Hours of Nürburgring) with Aston Martin, but last minute they decided to not participate to the German race. For sure I had exclusive contract with AMR and again, this is the nice part of it, the human part. I got a contact from Porsche to drive for Fricadelly to do one NLS and the 24 Hours. For Aston Martin, in the beginning, it was a bit touchy, but they accepted. So in 2020, I did N24 on the Fricadelli car. That was it nothing more.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Lone Star Le Mans 2020.

End of 2020, Aston Martin decided to stop their WEC program which was late! They didn’t have any other program. In 2021, I did only one race for Aston Martin: NLS8 one of the last races of the Nordschleife season. We won it.

They were very open. For sure we had a contract, but they had no program and I needed to race. It is not about money. I just want to race! We agreed I could race somewhere else.

I was in contact with Porsche and Fricadelli. I did several NLS, N24 and Spa 24 with Porsche but it mainly came because Aston Martin not having a program.

CRR: What is the evolution in GT cars between your start in 2010 and today? What are the key differences?

Maxime Martin: The cars are completely different. When GT3 started, it was a bit like GT4 today. The GT3 of today is close to what the GT1 were in the past when GT1 were really the proper race cars doing what GTE are doing now in lap times. Today we call them GT cars but it is prototypes; we are at a level where GT have never been.

CRR: You have been driving three major manufacturers cars: BMW; Aston Martin and Porsche. What makes a winning car?

Maxime Martin: There are several parameters. You must be fast for the longest obviously. You need a car which is good in all conditions, especially for 24 Hours race, you need a car which is good in the heat, when it is cooler in the night, competitive in wet or mixed. You need a competitive car in many conditions. That is where you make the difference. If you have a car super-fast in the night but slow when it is hot, it might be difficult to win a 24 hours race.

CRR: There is a lot of engineering, a lot of calculation to find the right balance between different race conditions.

Maxime Martin: The GT today, in term of engineers, number of people you need to run the cars in a professional way at the best level, per car, you need five to seven engineers plus five to seven mechanics. For a team of two cars, you end with 30 to 40 people. That is the way of racing in a competitive way these days. 📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Daytona 2022.

CRR: This year you are back in the states in IMSA. I see through your smile you enjoy it! What do you think of your season so far?

Maxime Martin: I have done four races so far (NDLR: interview happened May 10th 2022). The season so far has been very difficult. We have been competitive during the last two races in Long Beach and Laguna Seca. In Long Beach we were second fighting for P1 and I was hit by the leader closing me into the wall. We broke the suspension, and it was done. In Laguna Seca we were P2; some misjudgment in the pitstop triggered a drive through which drove us back to P7.

At Sebring we had an engine issue in the warmup lap. In Daytona one of my teammates crashed even before I could drive the car. So I didn’t drive the two first races.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Daytona 2019.

It hasn’t been good for me in the US until now. I’m pretty sure we are competitive and at some point we’ll win the points and podiums that we deserve.

CRR: What are the ambitions this year in IMSA?

Maxime Martin: The aim is not to win the championship because I’m sharing my driving between two cars: GTD PRO in one car for the long races and GTD in another one for the sprint races.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 12 Hours of Sebring 2022.

To win the endurance championship is over because we didn’t mark any point at Daytona and Sebring.

In the sprint races, we are far back in the championship, but we have a strong lineup with Roman Deangelis and myself; the car is competitive so for sure we have a good chance.

CRR: How is the lineup decided?

Maxime Martin: It comes from the manufacturer, from the team with the support of AMR which includes myself.