Rossi team-mate Maxime Martin leaves BMW for new challenges

Spa 24 Hours winner Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi’s regular team-mate for the past two seasons, is leaving BMW for a second time.

The 38-year-old Belgian is ending his latest stint with BMW “at his own request to pursue new challenges”, the German manufacturer stated on the release of the news on Monday.

Martin has quit BMW just two years after rejoining the marque during which time he raced alongside seven-time MotoGP title winner Rossi in the GT World Challenge Europe and the World Endurance Championship.

He was a factory BMW driver from 2013 to ’17 before switching to Aston Martin for five seasons before returning to a manufacturer with which his father Jean-Michel took two of his four Spa victories ahead of the 2023 season, during which he co-drove with Rossi in both legs of the GTWCE.

Martin said: “BMW M Motorsport has played a significant role in my career from the very beginning, and I look back fondly on everything we achieved together – from my first successes in DTM and 24-hour races to the recent victories with the BMW M4 GT3.

“I am very grateful for the time we spent together and for my seven years as a BMW M works driver.

“But now it’s time for me to take on new challenges.”

Martin has yet to reveal his plans for 2025.

#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Maxime Martin

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Andreas Roos, boss of BMW M Motorsport, paid tribute to Martin, calling him “one of the defining faces of our programmes” and a “tremendous asset”.

Martin took his Spa victory in 2016 with the factory Rowe Racing squad partnering Alexander Sims and Philipp Eng aboard a BMW M6 GT3.

He spent four seasons in the DTM with BMW in 2014-17, driving first for the RMG team and then RBM, claiming a total of three victories.

He cited a desire to return to his sportscar racing roots for his decision to leave BMW for Aston Martin, with which he took a GTE Pro class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2020 co-driving a Vantage GTE with Alex Lynn and Harry Tincknell.

Martin partnered Rossi to a race victory in the GTWCE Sprint Cup in both ’23 and ’24, both at the Italian’s home track at Misano at the wheel of an M4 GT3 run by the WRT team.

Their best result on their move into the WEC’s new LMGT3 class this season sharing with Ahmad Al Harthy was a second at Imola in April.

It has yet to be announced where Rossi will race with BMW next year, as he looks to scale back on a programme in 2024 that stretched to 16 races.

He stated after last month’s Bahrain WEC finale that he was likely to focus on the WEC at the request of BMW and drop his GTWCE programme.