It definitely was not a long wait. For his second race under the official BMW banner Maxime Martin climbed up onto the top tread of the podium this Saturday following the second round of the American Le Mans Series held at the Long Beach circuit. At the wheel of the BMW Team RLL’s Z4 GTE, and teamed up with Bill Auberlen, who was on home ground, the young Brussels based driver allowed the most recent weapon in BMW Motorsport’s arsenal to give it its first record of achievements.
“Right from the qualifying sessions we were fully aware that the car was in the running on this prestigious street circuit, Maxime explained, Bill Auberlen recording the 5th best time in GTE, and a mere 2 tenths of a second from pole. We knew that the Z4 would be efficient on this highly technical track, which underlines the chassis quality. The only regret I have is the lack of actual driving time-a mere 10 laps during the free practice sessions on Friday on a track lacking grip – that caught me out in the beginning of the race. In fact I took the start on a surface that was far more adherent than the previous day, and right from the first lap a missed braking sent me straight ahead. I set off again in pretty well last place, and the attack started. A positive point is that during this moment in the race I was the fastest on the track … “
A distinctive feature of races held in the United States is that strategy plays a top role, as one needs to handle the various neutralisations and yellow flags. “Taking into account the start of the race we opted to gamble by bringing my pit stop forward as from the 25th minute, Martin continued. At the time of a Restart, about one hour from the finish, we were lying in 2nd place behind the Viper, which seemed to be inaccessible. My teammate Bill Auberlen, who lives in Long Beach, kept up the pressure, and near the end of the race the leader started to experience tyre problems. The outcome: Bill was able to find an opening, similar to the other BMW of Dirk Müller and Joey Hand, which allowed us to clock up an excellent one-two finish! For my second participation under the official colours it’s obviously a great result. And seeing Bill Auberlen was playing on home ground, and that he had never won at Long Beach, I am doubly delighted with this victory. We had a mass of supporters making this a truly super party …”
The following meeting of the American Le Mans Series is to be held on the Laguna Seca circuit, another track where aerodynamic support is of high importance. The BMW Z4 GTE should definitely prove its worth here. This coming Saturday Maxime will head off for the Nordschleife, preparing for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with the Marc VDS Racing team. He will be reunited with the Z4 in GT3 version, pairing up with the Belgian based Finn Markus Palttala and the Swiss Henri Moser. In the meanwhile, champagne!
Source : Maxime Martin