Following the first and always exotic round at Abu Dhabi, the FIA GT1 World Championship travelled on to the Limburg located Zolder circuit, for a first race on home soil this season for Maxime Martin. A weekend which kicked off perfectly for the Marc VDS Racing Ford GT #41, the car proving to be the fastest on the track in the free practice sessions. A slight driving error from Maxime’s team mate Fred Makowiecki, prevented the young Belgian from grabbing pole position for Saturday’s Qualifying Race.
« I had in fact clocked up the best time of Q1, in the first part of the session, but we weren’t able to take part in Q3, Maxime regrets. What with some of the penalties awarded to various drivers we finally found ourselves on the fifth row of the grid. » A tumultuous start, in fact chaotic for several competitors, allowed Makowiecki to find himself in … 2nd place, a few hundred meters after the start. Even better, the young Frenchman then took over the lead, prior to calling in to the pit lane and handing over the drive to Maxime Martin.
« And this is where a problem reared its head; a jammed socket made us lose at least ten seconds, Maxime explained. I set off in hot pursuit finally taking the chequered flag in 5th place. This gives us a place on the third row of the grid for Sunday’s race. On the other hand taking into account the size of the fuel cell homologated for the Ford GT, we were on the limit by the end of the race, which is not a comfortable feeling. But as we were able to ascertain today, incidents are renowned in these FIA GT1 events, and the most important for the championship is to grab serious points as and when possible. And from that point of view it’s a success. »
This Sunday for the Championship Race, Maxime started out in 5th position, prior to meeting the law in the shape of an Aston Martin… « Seeing we had damaged a set of tyres during qualifying, I set off shod with tyres we had used in the first race. Not ideal when you are up against competitors who can count on new or fresh tyres. On top of that the Ford GT is the heaviest car on the grid, and has the smallest engine. With these handicaps we were still able to follow the pace, but no way overtake. During the second relay, Fred experienced exactly the same problem, and we finished the race in 8th place. Now up to the FIA to react by taking away some weight, as otherwise this difficult situation will carry on during the following upcoming races, which is a real nuisance … »
This FIA GT1 weekend in Zolder also allowed Maxime Martin to find himself officialised for the preliminary tests regarding the 4 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of the Lola Aston Martin LMP1 entered by Kronos Racing, together with Vanina Ickx and Bas Leinders. « Quite simply an extraordinary project, set-up in collaboration with Marc VDS Racing and their technical staff will be handling this Lola LMP1 at the Sarthe. Our chances of finally being withheld for the race are quite real, and we are sure of being able to count on the support of Aston Martin Racing for this legendary event. What more could one ask for? »
Source : Maxime Martin