There were early signs in 2021 that maybe Michael van der Mark had made at least a tactical misjudgement in leaving Yamaha for BMW last winter, but on the new M1000RR he joined his team-mate Sykes on the Superpole race podium at Donington, running intermediate tyres on a slightly damp track to begin with to finish with third place.

Not quite Sykes’m two podiums in the UK, but progress of the type that gets you trophies was unissably positive. He used a stiffer chassis set-up than Sykes, after a recent test session at Navarra.

“Yeah, a slightly different bike setup,” he told bikesportnews.com. “We felt enough areas it would stop a little bit better, I think everyone saw in FP1 that the bike is still a bit of a pain in the ass on stopping. But we made a slight improvement. This track I found a way to ride a bit around this problem, because there’s only three really hard braking zones, so that’s not a real problem. It’s still the main issue.”

VDM was still as enthused as the laid-back Dutchman ever gets with the overall BMW Sunday performance at Donington. “I think we can be quite happy with Sunday, the whole team,” said van der Mark. “This morning the superpole race was interesting. It was impressive to see the lap times we were doing with intermediates. I think the track had dried enough after a couple of laps. I had the slick tyre in the rear, but this time I was on the front row so I didn’t want to take that gamble. Great to finish on the podium this morning also with Tom. Gave the guys even more motivation.”

Van der Mark was impressed by the performance of his intermediate tyres in the Superpole race. “The first time I ever used them was in Aragon. I was so impressed. Yesterday when the track was still a little bit wet with the slicks you had zero grip, but with the intermediates you go over a wet patch and it moves a little but it’s incredible how much grip it has. Even when it’s dry, I was quite impressed.”

In general, things are moving in the right direction for VDM. “We’re finding a groove. This weekend in Superpole we just took the right strategy to change the rear tyre. For sure, it makes life a lot easier to start way up front. This weekend we’ve seen that I have a good pace, I just struggle to put all the sectors together and we were struggling a lot in the last sector. I have a good feeling with the bike, it’s just sometimes we cannot put it all together. That’s why we qualified not as good as normally would.”

Now he has ridden the M1000RR Michael was asked if he could compare the old S1000RR and the new M machine for 2021. He had ridden the S version since joining BMW, and said, “To be honest, the straight-line speed is not a problem. We have the power in the bike. We have so much power that we reduced it a lot. So, my first feeling with the S1000 last year obviously didn’t have enough power. The M1000 has the power but we have to turn it down.

We can’t use all the power, but that’s what every bike does now. It spins too easy. We found the right balance right now. If you let us go, we just spin it and we’re not going forward. So, I think in Aragon we found the right new strategy with traction control and stuff, which makes us spin a little bit but when it’s too much you just reduce the power.”

VDM is not sure what new parts his 2021 bike would benefit from, but he knows what needs to improve. “I’m not a technician, I’m not that deep into developing stuff, but I would love to have a bike which stops really well,” he stated. “When we are really slow, the bike turns really well. Sometimes when we roll through the corner it doesn’t turn that good, but I would prefer to have a bike which stops better.”

Next up is Assen, his home race, where anything may still be possible?

“It’s nice to go to Assen. I think the track layout has only two times really hard braking. So, that should suit us. I’m looking forward to riding there again. I think one of the best things is that the fans are back allowed, unlimited. No pressure, but I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone at Assen again.”