The 2013 MotoGP World Championship gets underway in the “Losail International Circuit” in Qatar this weekend and BMW M will be starting its 15th season as “Official Car of MotoGP”. BMW’s long association with MotoGP started in 1999.
Under the hood of the official Safety Car, the BMW M6 GranCoupe, is a high-revving 4.4-litre V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology that has a maximum output of 412 kW/560 hp allowing the M6 GranCoupe to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.2 seconds. Besides all the M performance enhancements, the car also gains a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic roof.
The fleet of official MotoGP cars for the 2013 season comprises five BMW M and M Performance models including the M6 Gran Coupe, the M6 Coupe and the M5. The Safety Officer will drive an BMW M3 Coupe, while two BMW M550d xDrive Tourings will be used as medical cars. BMW Motorrad will also provide two new BMW HP4s as Safety Bikes.
This is BMWs way of drawing par, or the next best thing to being the F1 Safety Car, a responsibility assigned to arch-rivals Mercedes-Benz currently. Close, but no cigar!
