Back in action, the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is well and truly up and running on European soil and it’s the home round for Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). The Dutchman was top BMW on the opening day in sixth place and was just over half a second away from the top spot, giving him reason to be pleased as he aims for the podium on Saturday and Sunday to give the home fans something to cheer about.

Setting an impressive 42 laps, more than any other BMW rider, van der Mark went about his business on a track he knows like the back of his hand and was right in touch. After a positive test in Barcelona – where the BMW outfit brought four different swingarms to trial – van der Mark continued to demonstrate his good feeling with the M 1000 RR at Assen, placing ahead of both factory Yamahas of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu, as well as being right on the pace of the top five, just two tenths adrift.

Always strong at home, van der Mark said: “I think at the end, we finished quite good. In FP1, I didn’t like the feeling with the bike and wasn’t really enjoying it; I felt fast but I wasn’t. In FP2, we changed quite a lot on the bike and I immediately felt better with more confidence. I started on used tyres and was doing the same lap times as this morning, then we put a different rear tyre in and was quite happy with it. I was having more fun, therefore riding smoother and that’s what you have to do at this circuit. Honestly, I’d like a dry track; I think we could do really well. In the wet, it’s always tricky.”
 

His track record is pretty solid at Assen, with it being the place where he got a debut podium in his rookie 2015 campaign, with third place in Race 1, repeated in Race 2 on Honda machinery. Another podium in 2016 for Honda came in Race 2 before a switch to Yamaha in 2017 saw him fourth. In 2018 however, the podium magic was back for Mikey, as a second and third at home helped him to third overall in the Championship. He was second again in 2019 in Race 2, beating Jonathan Rea on a run to the line on the final lap. Since joining BMW in 2021, he’s yet to take a podium, with a best result of fourth coming in Race 1 in 2021; injured last year on his return from a broken leg, van der Mark was heroic in eighth in Race 2.

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Source: WorldSBK.com