For many years, BMW has been a respected manufacturer in the world of motorcycle racing, but not in MotoGP. While other major manufacturers like Ducati, KTM and Aprilia have firmly established themselves in the category, the absence of BMW seems rather strange. The gap is even more striking when you consider BMW’s strong performance in the World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK), where riders like Toprak Razgatlioglu have secured impressive victories.

So why has BMW never joined MotoGP?

This story goes back to the very start of MotoGP in 2002, when the sport switched to a new 990cc prototype era. BMW played with the idea of joining and even went as far as producing a life-sized prototype of a MotoGP bike. But the project failed before a single wheel was turned.

Another window opened in 2022 when Suzuki announced its immediate withdrawal from MotoGP. Some in the sport saw this as BMW’s opportunity, as they could have taken over Suzuki’s team structure and entry. However, Dorna Sports reportedly blocked this move, and the chance quickly disappeared.

That brought us to the latest twist in BMW’s MotoGP saga, which came this year. The company made a discreet attempt to buy KTM’s entire racing division. This move would have given BMW an instant competitive platform and the infrastructure needed to fight for podiums. But the sale never happened, as Bajaj, KTM’s parent company, decided to keep the racing project alive under Austrian control.

One key element of BMW’s potential plan had always revolved around Toprak Razgatlioglu, a rider who could have been the face of their project. However, Razgatlioglu is moving to Yamaha in 2026 for his own MotoGP debut. Without him as the main point, BMW’s enthusiasm for a near-term entry will be harder to sustain.

What about the new regulations coming in 2027?

A new set of regulations is coming in 2027. The bikes will switch to smaller 850cc engines, aerodynamic devices will be heavily restricted, ride-height devices will be banned, and a new tyre supplier will enter the series. This reset could level the playing field, giving new manufacturers like BMW a real shot at competitive results straight away.

Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW Motorrad, acknowledged the potential but told Australian Motor Cycle News in July that 2027 simply isn’t realistic. “We haven’t made a final decision yet,” Flasch said. “The topic of MotoGP has been under discussion at BMW for a long time… First, we’ll make the strategic decision, and then we’ll define the technical path. 2027 is definitely not viable for us.”

The admission means that, even if BMW decided tomorrow to go ahead, the time needed to design, build and test a competitive MotoGP bike would be too short.

And even this wouldn’t be the hardest part, as there is also another logistical problem, the MotoGP grid, which has 22 bikes made up of 11 teams: five factory teams and six satellite teams.

Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has made it clear that any new manufacturer must enter by partnering with an existing team, just as Aprilia initially did with Gresini in 2015 before securing their own slot in 2022.

That means BMW could not simply start a brand-new factory team from scratch. They would have to strike a deal with a current MotoGP team, and these opportunities are rare. One rumoured possibility is Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 team, which could be sold to an investment group linked to Formula 1 figure Guenther Steiner. But even if that happened, the short timeframe before 2027 would make BMW’s entry extremely challenging.

And so, the story of BMW in MotoGP remains what it has been for more than 20 years, an intriguing “what if” waiting to become reality.