The first round of the WSBK season at Phillip Island sent the BMW troops to the ropes with an overall result so depressing that the boss of the satellite team Bonovo loudly demanded an emergency meeting with the state. Bavarian major. A week later, what had all the ingredients of a resounding crisis was as if petrified by this performance of the official rider Michaël Van der Mark who is gradually regaining his place as a specialist on the M1000RR after a serious injury. Fifth this Friday in Indonesia, beaten by a slight margin by the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea, the Dutchman certainly relieves the BMW staff who are waiting for the continuation of the Indonesian events to prepare their response to the boss of Bonovo...
We certainly weren't expecting BMW such a party at the end of the first of the three days that Mandalika has reserved for the WSBK field so that it can experience the second round of its championship on the island of Lombok, in Indonesia. But it is indeed an M1000RR which closes the top 5 this Friday thanks to the soldier Michael van der Mark. Will the Dutch swallow however be the spring of the Bavarian manufacturer which seemed to be sinking into a crisis after the first round at Phillip Island just a week ago?
The rest will tell, but what is taken is no longer to be taken. And to try to understand the situation at BMW, you have to listen to the hero of the day for the Munich factory: “ we changed a few things on the bike and it feels really good » said the Batavian on speedweek. " Everyone knows that Phillip Island is a very special circuit and you can't really judge the balance of power based on the results there. It was already clear to us that we would have problems with the BMW in Australia. Mandalika is a different circuit and as far as I'm concerned, it works well here ».
Van der Mark: “ it's not so easy to understand why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't«
He adds : " the motorcycle only performs optimally in a narrow window and it also depends on the characteristics of the circuit. It's not so easy to understand why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't ". And he recalls: “ as I said before, I didn't think race 2 at Phillip Island was bad. My pace was not significantly worse than the group fighting for 4th place. Now I'm fifth and we're not far ».
While most of his colleagues deplored the state of the track, Michael Van der Mark recalled on the subject that he was of the old school type: “ there isn't much action on the track the rest of the year. It's like that. It is close to the sea and the beach, and everyone knew what to expect on the first day ". Then he finishes: “ if we can continue like this and fight for a similar position on Saturday, we will be happy ».
We will recall the positions of his three other distinguished colleagues: his teammate Scott Redding point tenth, Loris Baz from Bonovo 13th, just in front of his neighbor and newcomer to BMW this year, Garrett gerloff.
WSBK Superbike Indonesia FP2: times
Credit classification wsbk.com
