BMW Motorrad’s Michael van der Mark was back on board a M1000RR at the weekend as his recovery from injury progressed.
The Dutchman has endured a torrid 2022 after fracturing his right leg in a preseason mountain bike training crash. Forced to sit out of testing and the opening round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, VDM showcased a heroic return in front of his home fans at the TT Circuit Assen.
Disaster struck next the out, however, with the 29-year-old suffering a turn ten highside on his opening lap of FP1 fracturing the neck of his femur, on the same recovering leg.
Surgery complete and recovery once again in progress, van der Mark was back in action over the weekend as he spun laps on his training bike at his favoured circuit. With five 20-minute runs under his belt the Dutchman is pleased with his progress but won’t be competing at Donington Park this coming weekend - Ilya Mikhalchik will return to the BMW squad for the UK round.
“I took a couple of laps with my BMW M1000RR training bike during a track day around the TT Circuit Assen,” van der Mark confirmed.
“It was pretty fun and showed me how far I am with my current recovery process.
“Almost managed to get my knee down,” he joked on social media. “Enjoyed being back out. Fantastic feeling, missed it! Steady and enjoying it.
“These activities are really helpful and bring me closer to my goal of being back in WorldSBK as soon as possible – even if it’s too early to predict now when. But I’m on it!”
