Petrucci stand-in Michael van der Mark (BMW) tips his hat to Oliveira

At Most and Aragón, Michael van der Mark stood in for the injured Danilo Petrucci in the BMW works team. Upon Petrucci’s return at Misano, the Dutchman took over the bike and CEW from Danilo Petrucci, who had come to the seventh round of the season as a spectator. After five years as a race rider, van der Mark had no trouble settling into the team organised by Shaun Muir Racing – the 33-year-old remained involved with the Superbike project as a test rider.

However, as van der Mark is also competing in the Endurance World Championship at the same time – he was part of the winning team at Spa the weekend before Misano – the frequent changes to bike configuration and tyre brand were no easy feat for the 2014 Supersport World Champion. “It was definitely not an easy weekend returning to the Superbike World Championship, but I enjoyed it,” confirmed the BMW rider. “And quite honestly: huge respect for Miguel. Not many people can see just how much pain he was in. To deliver such performances under those circumstances – that was a fantastic job.”

As a reminder: Oliveira secured BMW’s best results at Misano, finishing eighth on Saturday and sixth in the Superpole race.

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano, Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Paddock

Foto: Gold & Goose

Kawasaki Motorhome

Foto: Gold & Goose

Álvaro Bautista

Foto: Gold & Goose

Axel Bassani

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona & Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Das Bike von Sam Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Lorenzo Baldassarri

Foto: Gold & Goose

Álvaro Bautista

Foto: Gold & Goose

Andrea Locatelli

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Michael van der Mark

Foto: Gold & Goose

Yari Montella

Foto: Gold & Goose

Sam Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Somkiat Chantra

Foto: Gold & Goose

Ryan Vickers

Foto: Gold & Goose

Michael van der Mark

Foto: Gold & Goose

Garrett Gerloff

Foto: Gold & Goose

Alex Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Xavi Vierge

Foto: Gold & Goose

Garrett Gerloff

Foto: Gold & Goose

Alex Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Yari Montella

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Superpole - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega & Alex Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Rennen - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega & Yari Montella

Foto: Gold & Goose

Sieger Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano, Nicolò Bulega

© Gold & Goose

In his third Superbike outing this year, van der Mark retired from the first race with a technical problem, but crossed the finish line in 11th and 9th place in the Superpole Race and the second long race respectively. “We also tried out a lot of things to further develop the bike,” added the test rider.

“My lap in Superpole was once again the fastest I’ve ever done here, and it felt so close. Starting from 16th wasn’t ideal, but I was still happy with the lap time. In the first race on Saturday, we unfortunately had a technical problem just as we were on course for points. That was obviously disappointing,” van der Mark said of Saturday. “In the Superpole race, it was fun battling with a few riders, and it’s a shame to have just missed out on the top nine. Nevertheless, it gave me a lot of confidence. In the second race, I had a good start, some good battles and was in the right positions early on, so I was able to find a good rhythm. Sam Lowes was behind me and put a lot of pressure on right up to the finish. That made it all the more satisfying to end the weekend with a top-10 result.”