World Supersport Champion in 2014 on Honda, the Dutchman Michael van der Mark was the teammate of Jonathan Rhea at Ten Kate. He then spent two seasons in Superbike with Honda, with two victories at the Suzuka 8 Hours with Leon Haslam and Takumi Takahashi on a CBR1000RR. He won these 8 Hours again, but this time with alex lowes and Katsuyuki Nakasuga on an official Yamaha YZF-R1.
He rode for Yamaha from 2017 to 2020, finishing third in the World Superbike Championship in 2018, and fourth in 2019. This year 2020 started off badly for him who took a serious blow to his morale when he was beaten at Phillip Island by his teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu, who was competing in his first race on Yamaha in WSBK, while he himself could not reach any podium in the first three races. Rather than confront the Turk head on, van der Mark preferred to sign with BMW, where the competition seems less strong, but with remuneration at least as attractive.
Van der Mark, born October 26, 1992 in Gouda, has competed in 140 World Superbike Championship races and won three times, twice at Donington in 2018 and once at Jerez in 2019.
Marc Bongers, Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, said : “We are very happy with our agreement with Michael, who has progressed a lot in the World Superbike Championship in recent years. »
“We are convinced that Michael is an asset to our project, and together, in combination with the strong package we can offer him, we can reach the next level in terms of results. »
“We welcome Michael to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team and look forward to strong cooperation. »
According to Shaun Muir, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team Chief, “We are delighted to welcome Michael to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team. He brings a wealth of experience and is one of the youngest and most talented riders on the WorldSBK grid. »
“By securing Michael's services, we are emphasizing the focus and determination we have to compete for top honors, and we will give Michael every opportunity to achieve that goal. »
Michael van der Mark, under Yamaha contract, cannot speak publicly about his new situation.
“Mickey” started to make a name for himself by racing his national GP at Assen on a 125 Honda in 2008 and 2009.
In 2010, he competed in seven GPs in 125 on an Aprilia from Team Sachsenring, then on a Lambretta from Lambretta Reparto Corse.
In 2011 he finished 22nd in the Dutch GP in his only Moto2 race, with the Ten Kate team.
In MotoGP, he finished 16th and 17th in Malaysia and Valencia in 2017 with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team.
But his hour of glory took place in Supersport, with three full seasons from 2012 to 2014, 22 starts, 6 victories and the title in 2014, 13 podiums and two pole positions.
