Michael van der Mark targets Aragon WorldSBK podium despite “stupid mistake”

Michael van der Mark thinks he has a chance to fight for the podium at the Aragon WorldSBK after a solid opening day at MotorLand.

Van der Mark was in the top-10 in both FP1 and FP2 on the opening day at Aragon, closing FP2 in sixth place after giving his mechanics a job to do between the morning and afternoon sessions thanks to a crash at the penultimate corner after the end of the session.

“Unfortunately, at the end of FP1, I made a stupid mistake which caused a lot of damage so the [team] had to work hard between the sessions,” Michael van der Mark told WorldSBK.com after FP2 in Aragon.

“Luckily, FP2 I went out and the bike was working perfectly. I had the same feeling, good feelings, good consistency, and improved my lap time so I would say a better start than I expected, honestly.”

The Dutchman is without a podium so far in the 2025 World Superbike season, but his Friday feeling gave him confidence that he could end that drought this weekend.

“I think it’s pretty clear that Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and also Nicolo [Bulega] have a pretty good pace, but behind that there’s P3 and the group there,” he said.

“That’s my target, I want to be on the podium and I think if we keep going like this we should be able to fight for it.”

The BMW rider came to Aragon after battling for top-six positions in France three weeks ago, and says he continued “immediately” with the same feeling he had at Magny-Cours.

“Honestly, I started off Friday really well,” he said.

“I came here and immediately I felt the same as Magny-Cours; a lot of confidence with the bike and enjoying it, not finding too many issues, building and consistency.”

The two rounds after the summer break seem to show a step forward for van der Mark that he puts down to work done between the Hungarian and French rounds.

“We did a lot of work in the tests over the summer break,” he said.

“I think it’s a lot of small things coming together very nicely. I think that’s why we have a better potential now. 

“Unfortunately, it came a bit late but pretty sure we can finish the season pretty strong.”