Five BMW M Awards in a row for Marquez

2017-11-16 08:58
he reigning Champion has won the award for the top premier class qualifier every season he has been in MotoGP

The record holder continued his winning streak in the BMW M Award in 2017: Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the fastest qualifier in MotoGP™ once again this season, something that saw him clinch the coveted BMW M award for the fifth time in a row. The Spaniard won it this season with a total of 343 points, ending the year with a considerable advantage of 86 points over closest rival Maverick Viñales. This year, Márquez was rewarded for his qualifying performances with the new BMW M4 CS. The official award ceremony took place on Saturday as part of the MotoGP™ finale in Valencia, Spain, with the car presented to Márquez by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, and Frank van Meel, President of BMW M GmbH.

Márquez races from record to record in the BMW M Award. In 2013, he became the first rookie ever to win this prestigious competition. Márquez repeated the success in 2014, and in 2015 became the first rider to win three back-to-back BMW M Awards. His fourth straight win in 2016 made him the sole record holder and this year he continued his historic streak of success.

“I know just how much the BMW M Award is coveted among us MotoGP riders and that is why I am particularly proud to have won it for the fifth time in a row,” said Márquez at the award ceremony in Valencia. “BMW M GmbH comes up with something special every year, and I’m really excited to be able to call the BMW M4 CS my own now. Incidentally, after five wins, my motivation is unwavering and my clear goal for next year is to win the BMW M Award for the sixth time!”

“The BMW Award has long been a firm and important part of the MotoGP, and we are delighted to be celebrating a milestone this year, with the 15th award,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports. “The long tradition of the BMW M Award also proves just how close and strong our partnership with BMW M GmbH is. It is fantastic that BMW M GmbH honours the performances of the best qualifier with such exclusive high-performance automobiles, as they did this year with the BMW M4 CS. Marc Márquez’s winning streak in the BMW M Award is quite spectacular – congratulations on another outstanding performance.”

“You can only take your hat off to Marc Márquez: he has been the fastest qualifier in the MotoGP since 2013, making him unbeaten in the BMW M Award. Congratulations on the fifth win in a row,” said Frank van Meel, President of BMW M GmbH. “I’m sure that he will experience sheer driving pleasure with the new BMW M4 CS – just as he did with his four winner’s cars from previous years. We are proud of this little milestone that we are celebrating today: the 15th presentation of the BMW M Award. It is very important to us to honour the performances of the MotoGP riders over the course of the season, and we are delighted that this award has been so prized by the entire MotoGP family for many years.”
As a long-standing partner of Dorna Sports, this season saw BMW M GmbH present the BMW M Award for the 15th time. Just like the points system for the races, riders at each Grand Prix weekend are awarded points relative to their positions in qualifying. The rider with the most points at the end of the season wins the BMW M Award in form of an exclusive BMW M car. Marc Márquez is the record holder with five wins in a row. Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner both have three BMW M Awards to their name, Jorge Lorenzo has earned the coveted title of top qualifier twice so far and Sete Gibernau and the late, great Nicky Hayden have both won once.

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