DTM frontrunner Maxime Martin wins in Spa

BMW Motorsport driver in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Maxime Martin won the Spa 24 Hours last weekend, held at the historical circuit in the Ardennes. The Belgian driver was at the wheel of a BMW M6 GT3, shared with Alexander Sims and Philipp Eng and run by Rowe Racing.

Martin had a long career in GT racing before being chosen by BMW to be part of the DTM team in 2014, when he became the Rookie of the Year. Still, yesterday’s was the Belgian’s first win at his home event, at the tenth attempt. The Team RBM driver was over the moon: “I’ve dreamed of being successful here since I was a child. But I’ve usually been unlucky in the 24-hour race. It is the best win of my life. I have already enjoyed success in the DTM, but this here is another absolute highlight.”

Martin wasn’t the only DTM driver to participate in the endurance classic. Audi’s Nico Müller was third with the best of the R8 LMS from the Ingolstadt manufacturer, run by Audi Sport Team WRT, sharing driving duties with Laurens Vanthoor and René Rast, who also made his DTM debut two weeks’ ago in Zandvoort, replacing injured Adrien Tambay.

Gary Paffett and Maximilian Götz finished the race in fifth position in the Team HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes AMG GT3 shared with Thomas Jäger. The trio were running in third position when Götz had a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release.

Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver Edoardo Mortara was ninth in the R8 LMS shared with Marlon Stockinger and Filip Salaquadra, from Team ISR.

Mercedes AMG’s Daniel Juncadella was also present with a GT3 from Black Falcon shared with Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Oliver Morley and Miguel Toril, finishing 26th overall.

The next appointment for the DTM drivers is the sixth round of the 2016 season at the Moscow Raceway, from the 19th-21st of August.