van der Mark relishing podium fight with home pressure

Michael van der Mark wants to use the “added pressure” of his home round at Assen to fuel his podium charge for Pata Yamaha.

The Dutch rider is looking to put an underwhelming Aragon round behind him on his homecoming at a circuit he’s consistently been strong at during his racing career.

While his maiden World Supersport win arrived in 2014 at the iconic circuit, kick-starting his eventual title charge, van der Mark also secured his first World Superbike podiums at Assen with a pair of third places back in 2015.

The 26-year-old has only missed out on reaching the rostrum at his home round once in his World Superbike career, in 2017 when he retired from race one and finished fourth in race two, and is duly targeting the podium this weekend in front of his home fans.

“I can’t wait to get this weekend started. The home race brings some added pressure, as you can feel the expectations of the crowd, but I always enjoy racing in Assen,” van der Mark said. “It’s a special race, always really busy with a lot of fans and I really appreciate their support.

“I head into the Assen round confident that I can fight for the podium and, hopefully, I can repay the fans for the support I always get at home by giving them something to cheer about in the three races this weekend.”

Yamaha head into the Assen round as one of the few manufacturers untouched by the World Superbike balancing rules, after Ducati and Honda had maximum rev changes while Ducati and Kawasaki have lost their concession upgrade option for the campaign.