It is still unclear whether Michael van der Mark will be able to take part in the season opener of the World Superbike Championship – The BMW factory rider will definitely skip the final test
BMW factory rider Michael van der Mark continues to recover from the surgery required after his mountain bike training crash. It is unclear whether the Dutchman will be able to take part in the World Superbike Championship opener in Aragon.
If Van der Mark is unable to ride, BMW will rely on IDM rider Ilya Mikhalchik, who already drove the second factory BMW alongside Scott Redding at the recent test in Barcelona.
But how is Van der Mark doing at the moment? “It’s been more than two weeks since the incident with my mountain bike, and luckily I had surgery last week – so the healing process could start. Knowing the operation is behind me also makes me more mentally optimistic now, even though you know it’s going to be a longer road. But I’m making progress with every day,” explains the WSBK race winner on
“My goal is to get back on the bike as soon as possible. But we have to be realistic,” notes Van der Mark. “At the Aragon test Ilya will ride my bike, how it looks for the Aragon race itself is yet to be decided.”
“Of course I want to ride my bike. I miss my bike and I miss working with the guys. But we have to make sure that if I do that, I don’t then have problems for the rest of the year,” explained the BMW factory rider.
“So Aragon is my target, but maybe we need to be more realistic as the race gets closer. As a rider you want to ride your bike. I try to make progress every day and evaluate the situation accordingly from day to day. I think we will then make the decision just before the race weekend,” said the Dutchman.