VAN DER MARK RACE READY AFTER POSITIVE JEREZ TEST
Michael van der Mark is eager to return to action in 2020, after rounding out the 2019 season with a positive two-day test in Jerez. Between them Van der Mark and his new team mate Toprak Razgatlioglu completed more than 300 laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit over the course of the two-day test, as they worked their way through an intensive test schedule as part of Yamaha’s ongoing development program for the 2020 season. The two Pata Yamaha riders were assisted in this task by Yamaha EWC and test rider Niccolò Canepa.
While four of the five Yamaha riders can now look forward to some much-needed time off over the winter break, Van der Mark will have to wait another couple of weeks before finally hanging up his leathers for the season. The 27-year-old heads this weekend to South East Asia, where he’ll attend an event in Jakarta as a guest of Yamaha Indonesia. The next stop on van der Mark’s travel itinerary will be Malaysia, where he will contest the inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang race for Yamaha alongside MotoGP regulars Franco Morbidelli and Hafizh Syahrin.
Michael van der Mark – Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team – P4 – 1’39.287: “After the rain in Aragon it was good to come here to Jerez and have almost perfect conditions for the final two days of testing this year. Normally in testing you have both positives and negatives as you work your way through the program, but these two days were overwhelmingly positive. We completed a lot of laps, trying different things on the bike, and we managed to find a solution to the spinning issues we had during the second half of the season. Working with my new crew has also been easy; it’s already like we’ve spent a season together, so this test was a great way to end 2019 on a high note and I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike in January.”