Michael van der Mark reveals “ultimate dream” for WorldSBK 2025

Michael van der Mark enters the 2025 WorldSBK season having experienced a kind of renaissance in 2024, something he is looking to build on this year.

The Dutchman managed to go the whole season without picking up a serious injury last year, something he had failed to do in the past two campaigns.

With van der Mark fully fit throughout the season and with the talent of Toprak Razgatlioglu on the other side of the garage, BMW managed to secure its first WorldSBK title, and van der Mark mounted a return to the top step of the WorldSBK podium in the wet Race 1 at Magny-Cours.

As a result of last year’s success, for 2025, BMW’s WorldSBK targets are clear, according to van der Mark.

“We want to fight for the world title and I want to be on the podium as much as possible,” the Dutchman told WorldSBK.com at the factory BMW squad’s team launch in Berlin.

“I think the ultimate dream is to have the Riders’ Championship, the Teams’ Championship, and the Manufacturers’ Championship.”

For van der Mark himself, the aim is to pick up in 2025 where he left off in 2024: on the podium.

“I think we want to start where we finished the [2024] season, and that’s on the podium of course,” he said.

“We had a strong 2024 and a really good end to it, and with the new M1000 RR we improved in a lot of areas. So, we should be fighting for podiums from round one.”

Van der Mark added: “We’ve been building a lot of momentum last year, also on my side, and we finished the season so strong so with everything improved and a little bit new we should be there from the start and I have a lot of confidence.

“Of course, it’s racing and Phillip Island is always different, but I think we are stronger than last year. So, really looking forward to it.”

There is a new bike to get dialled in for the Bavarian brand for this season, and inclement weather at the back end of 2024 meant that van der Mark and his factory teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu only have one day on the bike so far.

“It was just one day but it was nice to get out on the bike, it was nice to get a feeling with the new package and it felt good straight away,” van der Mark said.

“It’s always difficult if you’re out on track alone to compare with other bikes, but the best thing for us was that the first impression was positive.

“So, there were some small areas where we wanted to improve, so we will see in the first test in Jerez where we really are.”