‘Quite fun’ Superpole race sees Van Der Mark claim first BMW podium

Michael Van Der Mark secured his first podium of both the 2021 WorldSBK championship and for BMW during Sunday’s Superpole race. 

It was a perfect day all-round for the Motorrad BMW team, as Van Der Mark’s third place finish coincided with team-mate Tom Sykes claiming two podiums of his own yesterday. 

Van Der Mark’s previous best result of 2021 was two fifth places at the opening round in Aragon.

"Yeah it’s been a really successful weekend for the team. I think yesterday in the Superpole we made the right strategy to change tyres a the end and go for the harder option," said Van Der Mark.  

"This morning in the Superpole race it was quite fun. The track was wet when we left pit lane, then it was drying, and everyone; nearly everyone decided to go for intermediates. 

"I think it was the right choice, although after a couple of laps I think we could have used the slick rear. But anyway, the pace was there and it was quite fun to do this race because the grip was low and everyone was just trying to see how far they could push." 

Van Der Mark was unable to replicate the sprint event success like Sykes during the final race of the day due to ‘change of direction’ issues. 

The Dutch rider said: "Really happy with my first podium this morning with the M 1000 RR. During race two I had not such a great start and immediately I struggled to change direction with the bike, it was quite heavy."

"This made it quite a long race, but at the end I had quite a nice battle with Alex [Lowes] and finished fifth."