Aston Martin has announced that it will separate from Maxime Martin after five seasons, in which he also won the GTE Pro victory at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours, driving a Vantage GTE shared with Alex Lynn and Harry Tincknell.
The 36-year-old Belgian made the announcement on Monday afternoon via his Instagram account, but did not disclose where he will race in 2023.
“The time has come for me to turn the page, aiming for the start of a new and exciting chapter in my career,” he said. “After an incredible five-year journey, it is time to say goodbye to the Aston Martin Racing family.”
“With AMR I achieved one of the greatest results of my entire career: winning the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans was simply incredible, and I will never forget the sweet taste of that wonderful victory.”
Maxime Martin won the 2020 GTE Pro class at the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside Harry Tincknell and Alex Lynn
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Huw Tasker, AMR’s head of customer racing, thanked Martin for “the enormous contribution he made to the Vantage program”, noting that he played an “integral part” in the development of the second generation Vantage, both in the GTE and GT3.
Martin joined Aston Martin after a five-year stint at BMW, which included four seasons in the DTM and victory at the Spa 24 Hours in 2016.
He raced in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons of the WEC in GTE Pro with the AMR team managed by Prodrive, finishing second in the World Championship on the second occasion together with his teammate Lynn.
He raced sporadically with Aston Martin in 2021, after the brand retired from the GTE Pro and this year his main program is to race a Vantage GT3 in IMSA’s GT Daytona class, with the Heart of Racing customer team.
The program has netted a couple of class wins at Watkins Glen and Mosport, pending the final race of the season, this weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Roman De Angelis, his teammate in six of the nine races so far, leads the GTD standings ahead of the 10-hour race.
Martin also participated in this year’s ETCR with the Romeo Ferraris Alfa Romeo team. In addition, along with Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen, Ross Gunn, Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Adam, he is part of the squad of six AMR drivers.
De Angelis and Tom Canning are also under contract with AMR, but as junior drivers.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#Maxime #Martin #leaves #Aston #Martin #season