With three major European manufacturers already on the MotoGP grid – Ducati, KTM and Aprilia (from the Piaggio Group) – the absence of German giant BMW has always felt like an anomaly. More so given its current presence and success in the WorldSBK production bike series with Toprak Razgatlioglu.
BMW has flirted with the idea of entering MotoGP since its birth in 2002, when the new 990cc prototype era began. Back then, the project never progressed beyond a life-sized mock-up.
