Van Der Mark: ‘It’s a choice you have to make… really surprised with my pace’

One of the standouts from Race 1 of the Indonesian WorldSBK round in Mandalika, Michael Van Der Mark roared into action during the closing stages to finish sixth.

Robert Jones

04 Mar 2023

Michael Van Der Mark, BMW WorldSBK Mandalika 2023

The BMW rider was embroiled in an early battle with teammate Scott Redding and Loris Baz, before putting in several laps that were quicker than all the riders ahead, except for WorldSBK champion Alvaro Bautista.

Van Der Mark, who managed to keep his front tyre from losing grip on a day where many couldn’t, first picked off Jonathan Rea, before doing the same to Xavi Vierge and Alex Lowes.

"To be fair I felt really good with the bike," said Van Der Mark. "Normally there are a lot of points where we compare with others and they are a lot stronger, but on this track the bike just works. The base of the bike works for some reason and I was just enjoying it.

"In the Superpole, with my second tyre I had a yellow flag and I lost my way to do even better. I was a bit unlucky there but I felt really strong.

"In the race [at the start] I was on the outside and just a bit unlucky there with guys colliding. It’s a choice you have to make but I was really surprised with my pace."

While riders such as Rea, Lowes and even Toprak Razgatlioglu despite the Yamaha rider finishing second all struggled with tyre degradation, Van Der Mark had no such issues as he focused on not carrying too much corner speed.

Van Der Mark added: "I had no issues. Already from the start, the front was moving a little bit but it’s also how you ride and how you use the front tyre.

"I tried to not use too much corner speed the whole race and I think it saved me at the end of the race."

Petrucci top WorldSBK rookie after impressive performance

Danilo Petrucci , race 1, Indonesian WorldSBK, 4 March

Like Van Der Mark, Danilo Petrucci enjoyed his best result of the season after finishing fifth.

Although Petrucci was pushed down to seventh early on, the Barni Ducati rider made his way back up the order mid-race as he overtook Rea once the Kawasaki rider began to falter.

Speaking about his race, Petrucci added: "I didn’t expect to be so strong in the race. Friday was a tough day; it is such a difficult track with just one line. You pay quite a lot for a small mistake.

"This morning, we made some adjustments, and everything was in the right direction. I had a good start. I was quite scared about the tyre wear, so I was a bit too conservative at the beginning and I had too many people pass me.

"In the end, I found my rhythm. I had a good battle with Jonny, and it was a pleasure and a pride for me to fight with a I don’t know how many times World Champion… too many times World Champion! I tried to follow Bassani, but I had too few laps and I was suffering a lot in the heat."