Marc Márquez was crowned world champion for the eighth time in total, and the sixth time at the pinnacle of motorcycle racing – MotoGP. In 2019, he was also the fastest qualifier in MotoGP for the seventh year in a row, extending his record winning run in the BMW M Award.
Therefore, the M brand awarded the Spaniard a BMW X4 M Competition painted in Toronto Red. It was presented to Márquez in Valencia by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna Sports, Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH, and Manuel Terroba, CEO of BMW Group Spain and Portugal.
“I would like to thank BMW M GmbH for the great way in which they have recognises our performances at the track for many years, and how they reward the season’s best qualifier,” said Márquez at the presentation ceremony in Valencia. “I am a bit speechless to have received this award for the seventh year in a row. I am delighted to have been the fastest qualifier this year because it’s not been easy and can hardly wait to get in the car.”
“It has pretty much become a tradition to present Marc Márquez with the BMW M Award here in Valencia,” said Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “To win this coveted award seven times in a row, and in such a high-class field as the one in MotoGP, is an outstanding and unique achievement. Congratulations on this record run, which started back in 2013. We are delighted to be able to present him with this exclusive BMW X4 M Competition as his prize – a sporty, high-performance car and a real powerhouse, whose attributes are perfectly suited to an exceptional athlete like Marc. We hope he has a lot of fun driving it.”
The BMW M Award was presented for the 17th time in 2019. As with the scoring system for the race, the riders receive points for their positions in qualifying at each Grand Prix weekend. The rider who has picked up the most points at the end of the season wins the coveted BMW M Award, in the form of an exclusive BMW M automobile. Márquez has already made history several times with the BMW M Award.
He won it for the first time in 2013, becoming the first rookie to top the ranking. In 2015, the Spaniard became the first rider to win the BMW M Award for three consecutive years. He became the exclusive record holder in 2016 with his fourth straight victory. In the current 2019 season, Márquez won the BMW M Award with a total of 384 points, 50 points ahead of his closest challenger Fabio Quartararo.
