Aston Martin Racing (AMR) capped off its successful 2017 with the addition of a new driver to compete in next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Enter Maxime Martin; a 31 year old racing drive who’s the proud son of the 4-time Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 24-hours winner Jean-Michel Martin.
AMR first caught glimpse of Martin’s racing prowess during the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship where he drove a Ford GT. A year later, he was seen piloting a Marc VDS Lola Aston Martin DBR1-2 in the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hour race where he finished 7th. These achievements, plus his solid stints in various sanctioned GT races (including the German DTM Championship), and as BMW’s factory driver in 2013, were what prompted AMR to bring him.
Maxime Martin’s racing career dates back to the early 2000s. He started off well in 2005 as the world champion in the MINI Cooper Challenge. After that, he went on to compete in a number of single-seat races before finding his groove in GT racing. In 2008, he won 2nd place overall in the Megane Trophy. That same year, he clinched the championship title in the Clio Cup France.
Come next year, Martin will be piloting the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, a track weapon which AMR is in the process of testing as of this writing.