At the season finale of the 2009 MotoGP in Valencia, BMW honored nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi with the 'M Award' for being the fastest man over the seventeen rounds of this year's GP. The grand prize was a brand new BMW M3 Sedan, the fifth bimmer that Rossi has won in this competition over the past few years. Along with the award and the new car, BMW also gave Rossi the opportunity to get a taste of its new 450HP-strong M3 GTS Coupe, which made its first public debut at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Rossi, who drove the hardcore M3 Coupe a couple of times around the Valencia track, said that he was overly impressed with the car handling and performance and that he's planning to be one of the first to buy the special model when it goes on sale next year.