Michael van der Mark fastest at Magny-Cours WorldSBK: “It’s a track I love”

Fastest on day one at the French WorldSBK, Michael van der Mark is eyeing a first podium of the season at Magny-Cours.

The French circuit is among the Dutchman’s favourites, and it also works well for the BMW M1000 RR, the German bike having also ended the day third-fastest with Garrett Gerloff, and 10th with Scott Redding.

“It’s a track I love,” van der Mark told WorldSBK.com after Friday in France. “I enjoy coming here and today I enjoyed it even more because, from the first lap this morning, the bike was feeling good.

“We didn’t change a lot today because the bike felt good and I was just trying to be precise, have a good pace.

“It’s nice to be fast, but also to finish the day fastest is very nice. This morning, we made a good start and had good pace.

“In WorldSBK, the margins are very small so when you analyse things, you see small differences, but you can see BMWs are on the pace.”

The podium is the target for van der Mark this weekend, especially after narrowly missing out in the Portimao Superpole Race, when he was passed on the final lap by Alex Lowes.

“Of course, every weekend I hope to be on the podium and Portimao was pretty close,” van der Mark said. “We’ve started the weekend very well, the bike is feeling fantastic and I’m feeling very good, so we’ll just see what the weather will do and what conditions will be during the weekend.

“I think my confidence is growing and hopefully I can be on the podium.”