Michael van der Mark will continue to compete for BMW in the World Superbike Championship in 2023 after agreeing to a new one-year contract with the German manufacturer.
BMW has confirmed that Michael Van Der Mark will remain with the factory squad for the 2023 WorldSBK season, despite a second season marred by injuries with the German manufacturer.
BMW will remain with the same lineup for a second straight season thanks to its choice to keep Van Der Mark, as Scott Redding has already committed to the 2023 WorldSBK season. This will be the first time since BMW’s return to the series as a full factory project in 2019.
The five-time race winner left Yamaha at the beginning of the 2021 WSBK season and joined BMW. The team claimed its first victory in eight years at Portimao’s wet Superpole race.
BMW has given the Dutch rider a new contract, ensuring that he will continue to ride an M1000RR for a third straight season in 2023, despite the fact that he has been primarily sidelined this year owing to an injury sustained in the preseason and a crash at Estoril that occurred after his return at Assen.
“I am very happy in the BMW Motorrad Motorsport family and pleased about the extension of our collaboration,” said van der Mark. “Unfortunately, for me personally, the current season has not worked out how I had imagined so far. However, I cannot change that. It is now important to recover fully.”
“Personally, I want to get back on my BMW M1000RR as quickly as possible. I miss everything – the team, the bike, racing. However, all that matters is what the doctors say, and I am following their recommendations.”
“We’ll have to see exactly when I can race again. I saw at Assen just how much potential the bike has this season, and the project has made further progress since then – you could see that in the recent races, and it was confirmed by Scott’s podium last time out at Donington.”
“I am looking forward to returning to action and doing my bit. I am sure we have a successful future together.”
Van Der Mark will miss the second WorldSBK race next week in Most (the Czech Republic), but he is set to make a comeback at Magny-Cours in September after the summer break.
Redding and Van Der Mark may start to regularly fight for the podium in the second half of 2022 as Van Der Mark gets closer to making a comeback and BMW makes significant advancements at Donington Park.
