BMW M2 safety car celebrates 25 years of MotoGP collaboration | GRR
Last year was an enormous one for the bods at BMW M, for it was the 50th anniversary of the official founding of BMW’s Motorsport division. We had a spectacular time celebrating at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. BMW M celebrates another anniversary this year too, though it’s not an easy one to guess. For just under half the time M has been around, it’s provided the official MotoGP safety car, which continues in this the 25th year of that relationship, with this incredible M2.
Resplendent in the dark blue, light blue and red M colours over white paint, the new M2 safety car features a range of M performance parts including that rather Batmobile-esque rear wing, sat atop the boot lid.
Safety car-specific gear includes the flashing lights on the roof and front, a special roll bar, Recaro seats, six-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher. Unlike the M Performance add-ons, these aren’t available for M2 buyers as an option. Of course, the standard M2 is a pretty serious bit of kit as it sits, with a 460PS (338kW) twin-turbo straight six borrowed from the M3 and M4. While still the baby of the M range, it’s wider, faster, grippier and an overall more serious proposition than ever before.
“2023 is our 25th season as Official Car of MotoGP – a long-standing, close partnership like this is special in international racing,” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH.
“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 continues our tradition of putting the latest BMW M high-performance automobiles at the service of MotoGP safety.”