Even though Maxime Martin’s 2014 sporting season will principally concentrate on the spectacular DTM, under the colours of BMW Motorsport in the RMG team, the young Belgian had headed off to Florida to start his year’s activities, once again joining up with Bobby Rahal’s BMW Team RLL, and back at the wheel of the black BMW Z4 GTE #55 in which he had competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2013. This time around it was in a different series, namely the United SportsCar Championship, or USCC, with a prestigious opening round, namely the 24 Hours of Daytona. As one of the official BMW drivers entered in the GTLM category, referring to Grand Touring, Maxime was teamed up with the American drivers Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand, as also the Brit Andy Priaulx.
A Floridian adventure that started off in a rather complicated way for the Z4 GTE #55, with Bill Auberlen skidding on some oil prior to being hit by another competitor during the first free practice session. Outcome: the front of the car was entirely destroyed, and the technical crew of the BMW Team RLL immediately set to work to get the drivers back on track as soon as possible. “The team put in some super work, Maxime explained, seeing Priaulx was finally able to take part in the second free session. However some two laps later a brake problem and a crash, straight into the tyre wall! Luckily less damage than the first time, but we were obviously quite clearly lacking race mileage prior to the event. All the more so seeing that at Daytona, the car’s lower top speed was really noticeable, and we finished the qualifying sessions in 8th spot in our category, just behind the team’s other car. Having said that in a 24 hours event, it’s the race that counts … “
Hoping to be able to excel under these conditions the BMW clan decided to opt for a simple strategy, but one that generally pays off over such a distance and in such a difficult event: to build up the laps without experiencing a single problem. And if on the one hand the race was pretty turbulent, what with a red flag a mere three hours into the race, the tactic paid off, with Maxime Martin and his acolytes finishing the first event of the season in 7th place overall, and 2nd in LMGT!
“It was quite simply incredible, Maxime commented. Considering the circumstances and the way in which the weekend had kicked off for us I reckon we can consider this 2nd place as a victory … apart from the fact that I did not win the Rolex watch awarded to the winners! We didn’t experience the slightest problem during these 24 hours. In fact the car only spent a mere 14 minutes in the pits during the entire 24 hours race! This is where the secret lies for this brilliant result. We must congratulate the driving forces of BMW at Daytona, as also the entire team for their exceptional work. The year has definitely kicked off on a high note! It bodes well for the future …”