Portimão. A strong performance saw Michael van der Mark (NED)
from the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team aim for the podium in Saturday’s
race at Portimão (POR). However, he was forced to retire six laps
from the end, having fallen after another rider hit his rear wheel.
Eugene Laverty (IRL), standing in for Tom Sykes (GBR) again at
Portimão, finished the first race in ninth place. Jonas Folger (GER)
from the Bonovo MGM Racing team was racing at Portimão for the first
time and crossed the line in 15th position. The Portuguese racetrack
is hosting the eleventh round of the FIM Superbike World
Championship 2021 (WorldSBK).
In Superpole on Saturday morning, van der Mark claimed fifth place in
the second row of the grid, on his BMW M 1000 RR. Laverty was also
going well but fell after sliding during the closing stage of the
qualifying session. That prevented him from bettering the lap time
already posted and he finished in 13th place. Folger finished
Superpole in 19th position.
Van der Mark initially fell back a few places at the start of the
first race. However, a great recovery performance saw him move back up
to swiftly become part of the chasing pack battling for the third spot
on the podium. However, his charge to the podium came to an end on lap
15 out of 20 when a rider touched his rear wheel on entry to turn
five, causing him to fall. Van der Mark got back up and re-joined but
was forced to head for the pits and retire. Laverty moved up into the
top ten at the start. As the race progressed, he fell back a little
but then found his rhythm, crossing the finish line in ninth place.
After 20 race laps, Folger secured 15th place to score one point.
Quotes after race one at Portimão.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We
made good progress in the third practice session this morning. Michael
gave an outstanding performance in qualifying. He often struggles with
the qualifying tyres and it was amazing to get him into fifth place.
Eugene had an unfortunate fall and had to be content with 13th place.
Mickey didn’t get the start quite right and he was back in twelfth
place after the first few turns, but once again, he gave a very, very
good chasing performance. We were right in the battle for the podium.
Michael said that he would have made it and he had already moved into
an overtaking position. Unfortunately, Andrea Locatelli then touched
him from behind and caused the fall. That finished off the race for
him. It was a real shame as he was clearly in with a chance of
reaching the podium. So, we’ll start the Superpole race tomorrow from
P5 and then we’ll see what’s possible. Eugene rode a consistent race
and I am confident that he will be able to take another step forward
tomorrow at his home circuit.”
Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team:
“Eugene did a good job today. He rode a good race and came
strong at the end which we know he can do. Superpole was difficult for
him and we didn’t get the Q tyre to work for him very well but in the
end, he did a good job so credit to Eugene for that performance. I am
still a bit lost for words on the Michael situation. Nevertheless, we
have to dust ourselves down and build Mickey up overnight and get him
ready for the Superpole race. We are clearly disappointed as we had
the podium in sight which is what I think we deserved this weekend.”
Michael van der Mark, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team:
“This morning we changed a lot on the bike compared to
yesterday and I felt really good in FP3. In Superpole, I had a good
lap and I ended up starting in P5. That was a good step for us and I
was really happy with the starting position. During race one, I messed
up the start and got stuck in traffic at T1, so I lost a lot of
places. After that I had a good pace and was catching the group in
front of me. I managed to get past those guys and had some good
battles but unfortunately, I got taken out at T5 by Locatelli which
was a shame because we were fighting for the podium with Bautista and
Baz. But that is racing, and we try again tomorrow.”
Eugene Laverty, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “I am
happy with that race result because we have been working progressively
forward all weekend. The guys did a fantastic job in making the bike
feel like my bike which made me feel like home. We qualified low but
had a fantastic first few corners and gained a lot of positions.
Unfortunately, we had a problem with the clutch at the start and had
issues in corner entry but once I got used to this problem, I settled
into a good rhythm and got a good result. Without this problem at the
beginning, I think we could have been higher up today.”
Jonas Folger, Bonovo MGM Racing: “Superpole and the
race were really difficult today. In Superpole, we were unable to make
use of the advantages the qualifying tyres normally bring.
Unfortunately, I made a bad start to the race from 19th on the grid. I
was playing catch-up for a long time and wasn’t able to build up a
good feel with the rear and front grip. I was struggling all through
the race. We did manage to score one point, as some riders ahead of us
took a tumble, but overall the race was rather disappointing.”