Team RMG’s Maxime Martin was able to enjoy a fruitful weekend at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) season finale at Hockenheim, as the Belgian was one of the drivers that were instrumental in helping BMW clinching the Manufacturers’ championship from Audi Sport by just seven points.
Speaking with TouringCars.net after the final race, Martin explained that he wanted to score points, rather than take any unforeseen risks that would hinder BMW’s title efforts.
“On race pace, we were really struggling again, especially against Audi,” he said, even having gone wide at the Nordkurve on the very first lap.
“At the end, I had a really good start. There was some contact and some other little things, where I lost a lot of places. We could eventually recover and BMW won the manufacturer’s championship, which is just amazing.”
The 28-year-old was aware that the race to the constructors’ title was incredibly close at the end of the season, but credited the teamwork that Jens Marquardt’s squad had during the final two races to do enough.
“It’s clear, and Audi had everything in their hand to win it, but then they did some mistakes, which at the end cost them the title. We didn’t make any mistakes and kept on track, doing the maximum we had, so it paid off finally.
“We didn’t have the best car this year, but I think we really need to get more pace in the car for next season. But with what we had and what was going on, we made the best out of it.”
Martin was behind Gary Paffett in the drivers’ standings by just one point before the final race, but overtook the Briton to finish seventh overall on 94 points, as the third best driver in BMW’s ranks.
“It’s clear that I’ve been a lot more consistent this year than my rookie year, with a lot more races where I was able to score points,” he said, having secured nine top ten finishes and one victory.
“Every weekend except for Spielberg, I was scoring points in at least one of the races. I’m one of the only few drivers from BMW that have done this. It’s really good, and for next year, I hope we have the car to do even better.”