Jerez de la Frontera, Spain - Each year since 2003 BMW's M division has put up a very special car as a prize for the top MotoGP qualifier - and this year the BMW M Award comes in the form of a customised M6 convertible with lots of extra from the Individual catalogue.
And as per tradition, it was unveiled at the first European Grand Prix of the season, at the Jerez circuit in northern Spain.
The M6 convertible is brand new, having been shown for the first time at the Detroit motor show in January. Motorvation is courtesy of a 4.4-litre TwinPower V8 rated at 412kW and 680Nm, driving the rear wheels via a double-clutch transmission and active M differential and taking this big roadster off the grid to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds.
The M Award car is finished in 'Frozen Blue Metallic' and runs on double-spoked 20-inch M light alloy wheels; the interior is trimmed in full fine-grain white Merino leather and bleached ash wood veneer.
AND THIS IS HOW THE AWARD WORKS
In 2015, the BMW M Award will be presented for the 13th time. Points are awarded at each Grand Prix weekend based on the riders' qualifying positions, using the same scale as the championship points awarded for the race - 25 for pole, 20 for second, 16 for third, right down to one point for 15th.
The rider with the most points at the end of the season wins the BMW M Award.
Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner are the current record holders, each with three BMW M Awards. In 2013 Marc Marquez was youngest winner yet - and the first to win it in his rookie season in MotoGP. He won it again in 2014, to tie with fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, while Nicky Hayden and yet another Spanish rider - the immensely popular Sete Gibernau - have each won it once.