BMW M Safety Car fleet handed over at Jerez

An exquisite line-up of cars fresh from BMW's M Power division in Munich will be presented to Race Direction in a special ceremony at the Gran Premio bwin de España this weekend.

The Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez is one of the jewels in the MotoGP crown as it is not only one of the most emotional of races from the perspective of fans and riders, but it heralds the start of the all important European season in 2010. A new decade of MotoGP action with the fastest prototype MotoGP bikes evolved over the winter began with the opening round in Qatar three weeks ago, when the reigning champion Valentino Rossi sped to the front to win his 104th Grand Prix in a thrilling race ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.
Following this whirlwind Championship is BMW M, who for the 12th year will once more supply the Official Car of MotoGP with an exquisite line-up of cars fresh from BMW's M Power division in Munich. A BMW M6 Coupé V10 will again be at the forefront of all on-track activities for the all important Race Control work, enabling speedy track inspections and intervention at all of the 18 rounds on the 2010 calendar. The equally powerful BMW X6 M will be the second Safety Car as it starts its second year reinforcing BMW's support of MotoGP. Race Director Paul Butler will have a BMW M3 Sedan at his disposal while the Safety Officer and Stewards of the meeting have a BMW M5 Touring and BMW 5 Series GT at hand. The Medical car will be the new BMW X1. The two main Safety Cars - BMW M6 and BMW X6 M - actually went to Japan just before the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud disrupted the world's flight patterns, meaning they have travelled much more than many of the people in the paddock!
These cars will be officially handed over to Race Direction on Saturday at 7pm in a ceremony that will take place on the start line of the Jerez track. All the cars will be present for a spectacular photo shoot. CEO of Dorna, Carmelo Ezpeleta, will get his very own BMW 750i which will be his car for the entire season. This hand over will take place on Saturday at 4.15pm outside the Dorna Offices, with Thomas Schemera, Director Sales & Marketing BMW M handing over the keys.
Some lucky fans will get right up close to the action with some exclusive VIP trips around the service roads as guests of the VIP Village when they get aboard a fleet of X5s. All MotoGP Safety Cars will be liveried in BMW Motorsport colours. Additionally there will be the first view of the new BMW M Service Centre that will be situated in the paddock where the MotoGP Community can get a wealth of information about BMW and the hugely historic, yet technologically leading world that is BMW M.
Astride of every 125cc, all new Moto2 and MotoGP grids will be two bikes with a BMW R1000SS and a BMW HP2 Sport being the last bikes to close the circuit before the race gets the green light and the frenzied action starts. These bikes are centre stage on Friday during a Grand Prix meeting when selected TV journalists get the chance to ride the bikes around the tracks with cameras and microphones fitted for their international programmes.
The BMW M Award will once more provide an added twist to MotoGP qualifying on Saturday afternoons with points being given to each rider after each qualifying session. Come the season finale in Valenica in November, the winner will drive home a brand new M3 Coupe, just as Valentino Rossi did in 2009, but Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa will all have eyed up the World Champion receiving the keys to one of Munich's finest, so will be making their plans right from the word go to get their sets of M3 keys at the season's close. After Qatar, Stoner has the advantage with 25 points, with Rossi on 20 and Lorenzo on 16. At Jerez last year it was Lorenzo who clinched pole from Dani Pedrosa so expect no different as they battle for home honour