If this is true and in fact, not an April Fools joke, then this is very good news and the hope is that we will see more synergy and transfer from motorsports and M Cars.
The BMW M GmbH we know of today (the one that builds M Cars) was founded as BMW Motorsport GmbH in 1972.
In 1993, BMW Motorsport GmbH was renamed and restructured as BMW M GmbH, taking on a new identity and focus on building products (i.e., M Cars) whereas the motorsports and factory racing functions were spun off into a new BMW Motorsport organization.
Of course, for a long time, the two organizations often still shared a lot of the same employees, facilities, R&D, etc.
Sometime within the last few years, the BMW Motorsport organization was further subdivided into BMW M Motorsport and BMW i Motorsport.
Time will tell if those subdivisions will remain functional and if they will adopt new names.
Personally, I have always found the name BMW M Motorsport to be an odd one and semantically redundant...BMW M[otorsport] Motorsport...but people also say 'ATM Machine' (A[utomated] T[eller] M[achine] Machine) on a daily basis so go figure.
As a bonus tip, for those who have just learned/realized that the original BMW Motorsport GmbH was rebranded to BMW M GmbH in 1993, there are subtle details throughout the years that you'll now notice.
Little things like how old M Cars in certain configurations had available "BMW Motorsport" branded goodies such as engraved door handles and other neat trim pieces.
The E34 M5 promotional dealer video, for example, advertises the M5 as a BMW Motorsport product developed by BMW Motorsport.
Bragging rights aside, this is a development worth paying close attention to as we approach the 50th anniversary of the founding of BMW M[otorsport] GmbH.
Markus Flasch has demonstrated a lot of ambition and seems to enjoy being in front of the camera and the front lines, but he's got big shoes to fill...this will be interesting there hasn't been a BMW Motorsport director that overseas M Cars AND motorsports since before the 1993 restructuring (after which there were two separate positions: a BMW M CEO and a BMW Motorsport Director).