On 22 November, FIM held its sixth FIM Gala Ceremony and perhaps one of its most successful yet when, for the second year running, hundreds of invited guests packed into the historic Teatro Villamarta in the Spanish city of Jerez to enjoy a very special evening in honour of the World's best motorcycle riders.
Streamed live on the FIM Gala app for the first time ever, the 2015 FIM World Champions received their awards from motorcycling legends in their various disciplines, who were themselves honoured for their achievements within two wheel sport.
CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO
FIM Gala Ceremony hosts Matthew Roberts, Lisa Leyland and Gavin Emmett shared their passion and knowledge of motorcycle racing as they steered the audience through an evening to be remembered.
Legends such as Heikki Mikkola, Ole Olsen, Mick Andrews, Max Deubel, Guglielmo Andreini, Martine de Cortanze and Franco Picco were joined on stage by a host of outstanding two-wheel talents including Jorge Lorenzo, Johann Zarco, Danny Kent, Ryan Dungey, Jonathan Rea, Antoine Meo, Toni Bou, Romain Febvre and Tai Woffinden. The women in the sport were once again strongly represented by Emma Bristow and Kiara Fontanesi.
In addition to rewarding the many FIM World Champions who stepped on to the stage after treading the red carpet, the FIM also made three special presentations. These included the FIM Environmental Award, won by the Federació Motociclista d'Andorra (FMA); the FIM Road Safety Award, handed over to Tony Rich and The AA Campaign 2015 ‘Think Bikes; and finally, the inaugural FIM Women in Motorcycling Award, presented to Motorcycling Victoria of Australia for their Female Participation Programme.
Speaking after the ceremony, FIM President Vito Ippolito stated: “It was great to be able to host the sixth
edition of the FIM Gala Ceremony for a second year in a row here in Jerez, World Capital of Motorcycling. The Teatro Villamarta proved a fitting setting once again to celebrate our latest lineup of FIM World Champions and to share this special occasion with our assembled audience. I want to thank the riders, teams and the whole motorcycling family for being here tonight and for supporting this very important event when, once again we have collectively shown to the World the great spirit that continues to exist within motorcycling.”