Van Der Mark excited for ‘special’ home round at Assen

Timing could not be better for Michael Van Der Mark who comes into his home WorldSBK round at Assen after claiming his best results with the M 1000 RR to date.

The Dutch rider was in the podium battle throughout all three races at Donington which included taking third in the Superpole event. 

With team-mate Tom Sykes also claiming a pair of podiums, the new M 1000 RR showed its first real signs of speed and consistency needed in order to become a persistent top five challenger. 

Since joining the WorldSBK class in 2015, Van Der Mark has only been off the podium at his home race on three occasions - ten races competed in - second place was his latest result (2019). 

Given his impressive record at the Dutch venue and momentum gathered from Donington, the 28 year-old is eager to further the ‘progress at my home race’.

"Assen is a special race for me, my home race, and I missed it last year. It definitely is one of my favourite tracks, also because I really enjoy the fast and flowing bits," added Van Der Mark.  

"Especially the last part of the circuit is great; it’s fast and flowing and with the last chicane there is always really nice action there. 

"We are making steady progress with our BMW M 1000 RR and at Donington we had a really good weekend with both of our BMWs finishing on the podium in the Superpole race and Tom also reaching the podium in race two. 

"We now want to continue this progress and of course it would be really nice to even do a bit more at my home race. 

"It is also fantastic that we will have fans at the grandstands for my home round. I am really looking forward to it."