Maxime Martin had a fairly good result at the Lausitzring this afternoon (Saturday, May 20th), as the Team RBM driver battled hard all race long to try and pick up his first podium finish of the season.
However, The Belgian had a fight for the majority of the race with Audi Sport’s René Rast, until the latter made a decisive pass for the final step of the rostrum with just eight and a half minutes left.
Martin, who put his M4 DTM onto the second row of the grid ahead of rival Rast, was surprised on being the best qualifier for Munich, after a great turnaround from the team.
“We had a better car for qualifying, which was good, and it was better to be up front rather than being at the back,” he said, having ended up five seconds behind Rast at the end of the race.
“It was a hard race for BMW, and I tried as much as I could but the pace of the Mercedes and the Audis are just too quick in the race, so it’s really hard to fight.
“I was really hoping for the podium, but at the end of the race, it was too much for me. But I’m happy with some good points again, but for BMW it is a shame. We have to work hard for tomorrow and try and improve, but I think it will be difficult.”
Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt echoed the sentiments of Martin, understanding that it had been a struggle for the Munich ranks all round.
“Maxime on P4 – not the result we were hoping for, as he did the best he could, but was unable to hold on to the podium. We are sad for him, but he drove his best out there, which was all we had.”
Maruqardt also felt that Di Resta’s actions regarding the collision with Tom Blomqvist on lap 16 could have been handled better by the 2010 champion, in terms of being careful on cold tyres, which has caught out experienced drivers.
“With Tom, I really don’t know what to say. With Timo, something went wrong on the pitstop which we need to look into, especially with how tight the DTM is, and if anything goes wrong, you are out of contention. So we have to work towards tomorrow.”
Martin now has 13 points to his credit after three races, moving him up to 11th place in the overall standings, ahead of Nico Müller and Paul Di Resta, who are level on 12 points each.