Maxime Martin will partake in his 20th Spa 24 Hours after winning the Nürburgring 24 Hours last month. Martin is aiming for success, having both his father, Jean-Michel Martin, and his uncle, Philippe Martin, by his side. The Belgian driver is proud of the two generations that are winning at Spa.

For the event, Martin will drive with a special helmet that features all twenty cars he drove in the endurance race in the Ardennes. The track and the race means a lot to the Martin family, as his father has four victories to his name, his uncle has won twice and Maxime himself has won the race already too. Martin debuted in 2006 and looks forward to making the 2026 edition a great one.

“My first real memory is from 1992, I would say,” Martin tells media including GT REPORT. “My dad won for the fourth time. I don’t really have any memories of the race to be honest. What I remember is that he was offered four pigs from his sponsors and friends, with T-shirts with all logo’s. We had them at home for a couple of months!”

Martin has enough memories of his first Spa 24 Hours: “It was in 2006 with a 996 Porsche. I was lucky enough to do my first ever 24-hours Spa as a 20-year-old. But what was funny, my dad was also racing then. He was in a Ferrari GT2,” the Belgian continues.

Taking on the Spa 24 Hours with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport: “The car is very efficient”

The multiple GT champion has raced with many different manufacturers and cars at the Belgian circuit: BMW, Aston Martin, Porsche, and now also Mercedes-AMG. He’s won the race once in 2016 – ten years after his debut. Maybe in 2026 – ten years after his first win – the odds will be in his favour again.

Asked by GT REPORT if he has a favourite among the different platforms he’s raced in, Martin has to point at the Mercedes-AMG GT3. He jokingly mentions he’s ‘contractually obliged’, but sums up why the marque from Affalterbach is especially good at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Every car is different, but I have many good memories of driving with different manufacturers and a lot of different cars. I have to say that the Mercedes-AMG car, for sure I’m an AMG driver, so I have to say it,” Martin laughs. “More seriously: the strengths, of which the AMG is known for many years now, is that the car is very efficient.”

“It’s one of the best GT3 cars because of all the customer teams. It’s an easy car, easy to handle for the Bronze drivers, it’s good in every condition, on every track. For sure, sometimes it’s a bit difficult because we are lacking some top speed. The chassis and the cornering are quite good, so in race conditions it’s sometimes difficult to overtake.”

Martin prepares for an extremely hot edition: “I’m a bit more used to it”

Next to Martin’s 20th Spa 24 Hours, the topic of the weekend is the extreme temperatures. The tower at Spa-Francorchamps circuit shows the air temperature every minute, and it had already risen to 30 degrees before midday. The first practice was hot. “It’s going to be very hot, a big challenge, especially because we don’t have air conditioning,” Martin says.

“Depending on how the race will go, I think it will be a challenge to double stint the drivers – so, it looks like more single stints, because of the heat and the recovery. To recover, we try to have some cold water as fast as possible to cool down as soon as possible. In the end, there’s not much we can do. I’m a bit more used to it than some drivers, but it will be challenging.”