On the eve of the final round of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Maxi Buhk and Dominik Baumann lead the overall standings, with a five point advantage over McLaren-driver Rob Bell. After taking the Endurance title in 2013 and the Sprint title last year, Maxi Buhk could become the first driver to win all three Blancpain GT Series titles.
Maxi, what do you think of your season so far?
”I’m pretty happy about it. The partnership in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup with Dominik Baumann, who had already been my co driver before, and with Jazeman Jaafar was just great. And I really feel at home in the AMG-team HTP Motorsport squad. I've been driving for them since 2012, and we are a perfect fit for each other. Having already had some success with the SLS AMG GT3, I'm very pleased to have returned to winning ways in the new Mercedes-AMG GT3.”
This weekend you're competing in the grand finale of the Blancpain GT Series. You currently lead the championship, so how do you rate your chances?
”Barcelona is a great track - it flows nicely, and the many fast corners are a lot of fun. But five points is not a huge gap in this extremely competitive and high-powered series. As long as we drive a controlled race and avoid making any mistakes, then our chances are quite good. After we missed out on the title in the Endurance Cup by just one point, we're now going to give it everything we've got to achieve our major objective of winning the championship.”
And after Barcelona? What will you do for the rest of the year?
“My greatest wish would be to contest the 12-hour race at Sepang again - that was a really great experience last year. Away from the track, I'll be working on keeping myself fit, and I'll also be discussing the season with my race engineers and with the team as a whole. After that, I'll be spending a lot of time at home with friends and family. Over the New Year period, I'll be flying off for a short holiday before preparations begin for next season.”