A 24 hours sprint on probably one of the world’s most demanding circuits … and at the end of the 2015 edition of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, a 2nd place overall for Maxime Martin and his teammates Lucas Luhr, Markus Palttala and Richard Westbrook at the wheel of the Marc VDS team’s BMW Z4 GT3 #25! A mere 40 seconds from overall victory, in fact the smallest gap ever registered at the end of this event …

“A tiring race, vigorously run, Maxime Martin commented. At the end of the day I am both delighted and frustrated. For the final appearance of the Z4 GT3 at the 24 Hours of the ‘Ring, BMW was clearly all out for victory, and it was within a hair’s breadth … Having said that, it’s important to retain the positive side: throughout the 24 hours Marc van der Straten’s team carried out some great work. And notwithstanding that we missed out on top spot by a fraction, our team is the only one to have brought its two cars home in the top-5 overall. Seeing the level of the grid this year I can assure you that this was quite a performance, I take my hat off to them … »

For this 2015 edition, the 24 Hours held on the legendary Nordschleife was faithful to its renowned reputation, with ever changing weather conditions making it a highly complicated race … “And yet, at the end of this quite individual race, the car came home without a single scratch, the BMW Motorsport driver continued. We could always regret the time lost during the beginning of the race, as the consequence of gamble taken regarding the tyres, but having continued to battle it out for victory right through to the end, without even the eventual help of a Safety Car procedure to reduced the gaps, the team can be truly proud of what it achieved! It’s quite simple, we could not have gone any faster! We were beaten by a car of the latest generation, whereas our BMW Z4 GT3 is in its fifth season at the highest level. All the same, even with that small gap of a few seconds our car proved that it still holds its own in these major meetings. We will try to revert this tendency during the 24 Hours of Spa, top event of the Blancpain Endurance Series at the beginning of July, and after last year’s silver medal as also the one claimed this last weekend in the Eifel, I can assure you that the determination of the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS has never been higher! “

While the two Z4 GT3 were giving their all to their heart’s content on the ‘full’ Nürburgring, BMW Motorsport officially revealed the M6 GT3, which represents the make’s future in the international and national Grand Touring competitions. A muscle car that will make its appearance on the track in 2016, and that Maxime, as an official driver for the German make, has already had the opportunity of testing. And the results are already promising..

Following this interlude on the Nürburgring, Maxime Martin will in two weeks time be back competing in the heated DTM competition, on the German Lausitzring. Here it will be a question of the BMW M4 DTM, among a pack solely comprised out of works drivers, where each place is fought for tooth and nail. Action…