11/06/21
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
Following a year’s absence from the Rimini circuit in 2020, the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team pairing of Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark finally returned to track onboard their BMW M 1000 RR’s, and were greeted by fans for the first time in 2021.
Tom Sykes, who is looking to relive the team’s podium success in 2019, entered FP1 sporting his beach inspired helmet, however struggled for pace during the session as he finished in P14 (1’36.231). The team made some adjustments to Tom’s BMW M 1000 RR in-between FP1 and FP2 which instantly made a difference to the lap times. In the early stages, Sykes was running within the top 5 places although slipped down the order in the closing minutes, finishing in P8 on combined times (1’35.232).
It was the first outing on the BMW M 1000 RR for Michael van der Mark at the Misano World Circuit, and he was keen to get the early laps under his belt. Michael managed to get a solid 19 laps during FP1 whilst finishing the session in P10 (1’35.831). In the afternoons final session of the day, Michael could not match his pace set in FP1 and as a result finished the day in P14 on combined times.