Premiere in Portimão: Fabio Quartararo wins the BMW M Award for the first time
The Petronas Yamaha SRT rider was the fastest qualifier in MotoGP ™ in 2020 and won the coveted award for the first time
Tuesday, November 24th, 2020
A premiere for the legendary BMW M Award: In the 2020 season, the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was the fastest qualifying game in MotoGP ™, with which he was included in the list of winners of the BMW M Award for the first time. His reward for his achievements is the 2020 winning car: the new BMW M2 CS. The car was unveiled during the MotoGP ™ season finale over the weekend, when Grand Prix motorcycle races were held for the first time in Portimão, Portugal.
Quartararo took pole position four times in 2020, more than any of its rivals, and scored a total of 225 points for the BMW M Award standings, with his lead over his closest rival by 13 points. Quartararo’s BMW M Award win in the 2020 season ended the impressive record series of the Spaniard Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), who won the BMW M Award seven years in a row between 2013 and 2019. That year, however, Marquez missed much of the season due to an injury.
After the last qualifying of the season on Saturday, winner Quartararo was presented with his new BMW M2 CS. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, attended the award ceremony. Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH, decided not to travel to Portugal due to the current coronavirus situation, but followed the final from Munich.
Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH: “First of all, I would like to thank Dorna for having managed to organize an exciting MotoGP season with 15 Grand Prix against all odds in this difficult year around the world. It wasn’t an easy task, but Dorna made it possible. As part of our commitment as “Official Car of MotoGP”, we were able to appear as title sponsor for the first time at the “BMW M Grand Prix of Styria” in Spielberg. We were also able to continue the tradition of the BMW M Award and present it for the 18th time this year. Congratulations to Fabio Quartararo, who more than deserved this award with four pole positions and a total of nine front rows. We selected the BMW M2 CS for this year’s winning car, our limited special edition with which we bring many components from racing to the road. We hope Fabio has a lot of fun with his new high-performance car! “
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports: “Congratulations to Fabio Quartararo. He was really impressive in qualifying this season and impressed all of us with his speed. I would like to thank our long-term, reliable partner BMW M GmbH, whose support we have always been able to rely on this year as well. There was no doubt that the BMW M Award for the fastest qualifying game will also be presented this season. although it is a very different time of year than usual. This competition is very much appreciated by our drivers and with the winning car, BMW M GmbH has raised the bar even higher. You can see that the BMW M2 CS was born on the racetrack, and I’m sure Fabio’s motorsport heart will beat faster. “
Fabio Quartararo, BMW M award winner: “What a crazy, exciting season. I am very happy to have won the race for the BMW M Award. It’s great that BMW M GmbH has been honoring our qualifying achievements with this special award for so many years. Thank you for this recognition. I’m really looking forward to taking my new BMW M2 CS for a spin. It looks like a racing car for the road and is undoubtedly a lot of fun. Many thanks to BMW M GmbH! “