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BMW celebrates fifteen years as the "Official Car of MotoGP" with a special M6 Gran Coupe


That is right, for the last fifteen years BMW provided the official Safety Cars for the MotoGP, and to celebrate that we will see for the first time in public the recently introduced BMW M6 Gran Coupe. And that will happen in then opening round of the 2013 season at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

About this special Safety CAr, BMW only said it was specially modified for its use on the racetrack, but we do know the regular M6 has a TwinPower Turbo V8 with 560PS (553hp or 412kW) and 678Nm (500lb/ft) of torque. All that power allows the M6 Gran Coupe to accelerate from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in just 4,2 seconds, while the top speed is limited to 250km/h (155mph).

But the M6 isn't the only car BMW will have in every event of the MotoGP. The fleet includes five other cars, including a BMW M6 Coupe and a BMW M5 as Safety Cars, a BMW M3 Coupe for the Safety Officer, and two BMW M550d xDrive Tourings working as medical cars. The motorcycle division of BMW (BMW Motorrad) will provide two BMW HP4s as Safety Bikes.

BMW also celebrates another anniversary. This is the tenth year the German company gives the BMW M Award, this prize is given at the end of the season to the rider that has the best overall qualifying record. Among the winners, we have Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden.

Since this year the prize will be an even special BMW M model, it will be revealed in May, during the Jerez Grand Prix in Spain. What could it be?