New BMW M5 Awarded To MotoGP Star Francesco Bagnaia

2024 MotoGP vice-champion Francesco Bagnaia took delivery of his G90 BMW M5 prize car last weekend after being crowned winner of the 2024 BMW M Award.

Though a third successive MotoGP world title slipped from his grasp this year, Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia can still revel in the fact that he is still the sport’s quickest qualifier for the third year in a row, and he’s got both the trophies and prize cars to prove it.

Also known by his nickname 'Pecco', the 27-year-old Turin native who rides for the works Ducati Lenovo Team in the premier motorcycle racing championship took delivery of his new BMW M5 prize car during last weekend’s MotoGP season finale round held at the Circuit de Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.

Bagnaia, who rides for the works Ducati Lenovo Team, won his third successive BMW M Award last weekend, which recognises the sport's fastest qualifiers throughout the season.

Said prize car was up for grabs through the 2024 BMW M Award in MotoGP which recognises the season’s best – read: fastest – qualifiers. Bagnaia achieved his sixth pole position of the season last weekend on Saturday, earning a total of 369 points.

Said tally saw Bagnaia edge ahead of  rival Jorge Martin by 10 points in the 2024 BMW M Award standings. Ironically, this was the same difference that separated both riders in the MotoGP Riders’ World Championship title race this year that was eventually won by Martin.

Bagnaia had beaten rival and eventual 2024 MotoGP champion Jorge Martin by 10 points in this year's edition of the BMW M Award.

Nevertheless, Bagnaia remained graceful in defeat, and the new M5 he received last Saturday is perhaps a solid consolation prize. Speaking of, the Italian was awarded with he Bavarian marque’s very latest iteration of its genre-defining performance executive saloon.

“It means a lot to me to have won the BMW M Award for the third consecutive year. This has been my goal since the end of last season, and I am proud to have achieved it,” said Bagnaia after receiving the M5 from Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP rights-holder Dorna Sports, and Sylvia Neubauer, Vice President of Customer, Brand, and Sales at BMW M GmbH.

Previously, Bagnaia won the 2022 and 2023 edition of the BMW M Award, earning him an M3 Competition Touring (top left) and XM Label Red (top right). The new M5 he received last weekend (above) joins both in said collection.

Bagnaia, who is also an alumni of the famed VR46 Riders Academy established by MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, can now add his newly acquired M5 alongside the XM Label Red and M3 Competition Touring he won prior through the 2023 and 2022 BMW M Award editions respectively.

Bearing its new ‘G90’ chassis code, the new seventh-generation iteration of the BMW M5 was revealed globally back in June this year, and it stood as the first in its lineage to be electrified. As a refresher, this super-saloon packs a V8 twin-turbo PHEV heart.

The new BMW M5 was revealed just this year in both saloon (G90) and 'Touring' estate (G91) forms (left). The former was also recently 'recruited' as the new Safety Car in MotoGP.

Borrowed from the XM Label Red PHEV super-SUV mentioned, said powertrain pushes our 717 HP and 1,000 NM to become the most potent M5 ever created. In turn, said setup also enables this performance saloon to despatch 0-100 KM/H sprints in just 3.4 seconds.

This also perhaps explains why the new M5 was also recruited by MotoGP as its latest Safety Car just several months back.