Maxime Martin will not race for BMW in the 2018 season. The announcement came on December 14, the day before BMW’s announcement of its 2018 driver lineups for DTM, IMSA, and WEC.
Martin began as a works driver for BMW in 2013. He raced for BMW Team RLL that year, and in 2014 he made his debut with BMW in DTM. He raced in DTM for four seasons, scoring three wins and ten podium finishes.
Over the years he raced for BMW in multiple GT series, co-driving the winning M6 GT3 in his home race at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2016. His most recent race in IMSA was at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2017, where he drove for Turner Motorsport.
Martin said: “It has definitely been a wonderful time with BMW, being there for five years as official BMW works driver. The two years before I had already been racing with the Marc VDS Racing Team in a BMW so I have been with the brand for seven years, first in customer racing, then as a works driver. We enjoyed really great success together, with wins and podiums in the DTM, the victory at the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps as well as second places at the 24 hours at the Nürburgring. I would like to thank Jens Marquardt, Adam Baker and Rudi Dittrich who believed in me five years ago and offered me the opportunity to join BMW as a works driver. I think without this everything maybe would have been different. But you sometimes need new challenges and changes so I decided to leave for a new challenge. I am looking forward to what awaits me but it was a great time with BMW and I want to thank everybody involved in it.”
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said, “On behalf of BMW Motorsport, I would like to thank Maxime Martin for his commitment over the past five years. Maxime showed that it is possible to progress from customer racing to the top echelon of works racing with us. It was always impressive to see how effortlessly he was able to switch between DTM and GT cars. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Martin’s plans for 2018 have not been announced. Sportscar365.com says that Martin will most likely join the WEC program at Aston Martin Racing.—Brian S. Morgan
