This year marked the 20th anniversary of the collaboration between BMW and Dorna Sports in the MotoGP series, the Bavarian manufacturer providing the official safety car for the competition over these two decades. To mark the occasion, the people from Munich put together a short clip showcasing the cars that had the honor of going out on the track before legendary rides got the green light to race.
The one that kicked off things was the BMW Z8 back in 2002. Equipped with almost everything you need to survive on the world’s major race tracks, even in its production trim, the roadster provided a stunning sound whenever it took to the track. Thanks to a design borrowed from the legendary BMW 507, paired with racing features and the obligatory additional equipment required for use as the Safety Car of 2002, the Z8 wowed fans across the globe and is one of the highlights of a long-running partnership.
Another rare and loved car was had this honor in 2007, the BMW Z4 M, while in 2011 the BMW 1M Coupe had the distinctive livery and strobe lights on to set the pace on the MotoGP track. The 1M was also one of the few safety cars to have a manual gearbox. The M4 Coupe took over in 2015 and, fitted with all the M Performance parts you could think of, it was basically a technical preview of the M4 GTS that came a bit later.
This year, the BMW M5 Competition had the privilege to be the competition’s Safety Car. The design of the safety car is based on the BMW M8 GTE, the long-distance racing car that made its debut at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just like the race car, the BMW M5 Safety Car is equipped with features such as quick fasteners on the bonnet, bucket seats from the BMW M4 GTS and a front splitter specially made by BMW M engineers.
