Source: Supplied.

Pata Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark has set his sights on challenging for the 2017 Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), as he details his switch to the YZF-R1 for the first time.

Van der Mark has been a fixture at Honda and won the World Supersport title in 2014. This season he rode the aging CBR1000RR to fourth in the standings before signing with Yamaha.

“I think this opportunity came at the right time for me,” Van der Mark said. “The results have been good throughout last season, but my feeling told me I needed a new challenge. To meet new people, work in a different team and with a different bike will give me a fresh approach as we attack the championship next year. I have only one goal and that’s to win races and fight for the world championship. That’s my main focus!”

The highly-regarded Dutchman has already been aboard the Yamaha during pre-season testing and is satisfied with progress made since joining the factory squad alongside Alex Lowes. The potential is clear to see.

“My first impressions were really good and straight out of the pits I felt happy with the bike!” he beamed. “At this early stage we still have a lot of work to do, but I can already feel so much potential in the YZF-R1, which makes me even more motivated for the coming season.

“The team here is great; they have a lot of experience and work really hard. I think we can say that right from the start we all had a good feeling and working with the guys went perfect right from the beginning of the first test!”