UPDATE INJURY MICHAEL VAN DER MARK
Michael van der Mark (NED) from the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team was unable to attend the test in Misano, due to an injury. He fractured his leg in a crash whilst training on his mountain bike. This injury also means the Dutchman is unable to take part in the tests in Barcelona and at MotorLand Aragón.
BMW factory rider Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) will replace him as the reserve rider at these tests. Three-time IDM champion Mikhalchik is part of the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team in the FIM Endurance World Championship and also lines up in the Spanish Superbike Championship this season.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “First of all, we wish Michael a good and speedy recovery, of course. His absence shortly before the start of the season is obviously very unfortunate. With him being absent we partly were missing a reference to last year’s topics which made the test work a bit more difficult. However, in Ilya we have a very good replacement, who will stand in for him at the next two tests. With him we can now work through the test list, fine-tune the 2022 package and Michael’s crew can gel. Ilya knows the BMW M 1000 RR well and is thus able to provide valuable input. He is a strong BMW factory rider, and has thus earned the opportunity to test the WorldSBK package.”