Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) is in the midst of a battle with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) for title honours in MotoGP™, but he has already beaten the Spaniard to another award in 2023. Having placed sixth in qualifying at the Thai GP, it is enough to take him out of reach in the BMW M Award.
Consistency has been key for the reigning World Champion as six pole positions and seven further front rows have helped him claim 311 points in best qualifier award, with Martin 76 points behind and only three rounds remaining, it means Bagnaia will get his hands on a brand new BMW XM Label Red car.
The BMW M Award has been rewarding the MotoGP™ riders who achieve the best qualifying results since 2003. Riders receive points for their positions in qualifying at each Grand Prix weekend, in line with the scoring system used for the races. The rider with the most points at the end of the season wins the coveted BMW M Award. The BMW M Award record holder is Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), who won the award seven times in a row between 2013 and 2019. Francesco Bagnaia added his name to the list of winners for the first time last year, and he now has another to his name.