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Van der Mark: "As a rider, you always want more…"

Monday, 22 November 2021 09:16 GMT

    • The Dutch rider ended his first BMW season with a third visit to the rostrum as he claimed third place in Race 2 in Indonesia

    The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team ended the season on a strong note in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, as Michael van der Mark claimed his third podium of the season with third in Race 2, while Tom Sykes was fifth in the same race. The Pirelli Indonesian Round also marked the end of the first season with the BMW M 1000 RR, claiming one win and five podiums in total.

    Van der Mark secured a third row start for both Race 1 and Race 2, with the Tissot Superpole Race cancelled, and claimed sixth in the opening race of the weekend before gaining three more places in Race 2 after a long battle with former teammate and newly-crowned Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK).

    Third place meant van der Mark claimed his 40th WorldSBK podium finish well BMW’s count in the Championship stands at 50; with van der Mark adding three and Sykes two in the 2021 campaign. It also secured van der Mark fifth in the Riders’ Championship standings, while BMW scored more than triple their points from 2020, with 315 in 2021 compared to 101 in 2020. After the race, van der Mark explained why he was content with his 2021 podium record but outlined the next step he thinks BMW must take.

    The Dutch rider said: “I think it’s not been bad but, of course, we want more and as a rider, you always want more. The level of WorldSBK this year has been so incredibly high, and we had a new M 1000 RR and we are developing, but it’s so slow. It’s not easy to always take the right parts and stuff like that, so to have a couple of podiums and one win is good but we need to make a step forward to be able to fight for podiums in the dry as well. I think the bike isn’t that bad, but we need to improve every single area. So, we need a bit more power, bit more stopping performance, bit more braking stability, bit more turning performance. It’s the whole package. That’s also the most difficult bit to put it all together.”

    For the 2022 season, the factory BMW outfit will have a new rider alongside van der Mark as Scott Redding joins the team from the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati outfit, while Loris Baz and Eugene Laverty will compete for Bonovo action BMW Racing Team as BMW satellite teams, with the Bonovo outfit expanding to two bikes after competing in 2021 with Jonas Folger.

    Re-watch some of the incredible action from the 2021 WorldSBK campaign using the comprehensive WorldSBK VideoPass!