25th year as ‘Official Car of MotoGP™’: BMW M starts anniversary season with new BMW M2 MotoGP™ safety car
The Grande Prémio de Portugal from 24 to 26 March at Portimão marks the start of an anniversary season for BMW M, the 25th season as Official Car of MotoGP™.
Image supplied by BMW Group South Africa
The close partnership with MotoGP™ rights holder Dorna Sports dates back to 1999. The start of the anniversary season in Portugal will see the new BMW M safety car make its debut. The new BMW M2 MotoGP™ safety car is based on the new BMW M2, which made its world premiere in October.
“We are delighted to be joining BMW M in celebrating the 25th anniversary season of our partnership in 2023,”
said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports.
“In BMW M we have had a strong partner at our side for a quarter of a century; a partner with whom we have enjoyed superb collaboration in many different areas. We are very proud of this long-standing partnership that is never at a standstill, it gives plenty of fresh momentum each year. With the most innovative technologies, BMW M is taking care of safety in our sport for the 25th year now, and is a firm fixture in the MotoGP paddock with a wide range of activities. Here’s to a fantastic anniversary season in 2023!
2023 is our 25th season as Official Car of MotoGP – a long-standing, close partnership like this is special in international racing,”
added Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH.
“We would like to thank Dorna Sports for the great trust they have placed in us for a quarter of a century now. Since 1999 we have been striving to incorporate our values such as innovation, technology, emotion, and passion into our partnership with Dorna Sports as well. Our new BMW M2 MotoGP safety car is just one example of this. With it we are continuing our tradition of putting the latest BMW M high-performance automobiles at the service of MotoGP safety. Be it the safety car fleet, the BMW M Award, or our many other activities in the top level of motorcycle racing – we are proud that Fascination M has become an important part of the MotoGP.”
The new BMW M2 impresses with the traditional characteristics of a high-performance sports car – in a concentrated form and with state-of-the-art technology. With its compact dimensions and the 338kW TwinPower turbo in-line 6-cylinder engine, the new BMW M2 is the perfect basis for a BMW M safety car. The BMW M2 was kitted out with various safety car elements for its deployment on MotoGP™ racetracks. These elements include a roll bar, Recaro seats, six-point racing harness, a fire extinguisher, the safety car roof bar, and the matching front light. Several M Performance parts, such as exhaust system, chassis, carbon wing mirror covers, diffusor, and rear wing have also been installed. The BMW M2 MotoGP™ safety car will have the standard BMW M safety car livery. In addition to the new BMW M2 MotoGP™ safety car, the safety car fleet of 2023 also includes many other BMW M safety, medical and official cars, as well as BMW M 1000 RR safety bikes.
