'Our confidence is growing' - Michael van der Mark has his sights set on a home podium
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After improving at the Portuguese World Superbike Round, Michael van der Mark is targeting a podium at his home round later this month.
Michael van der Mark's season got off to a terrible start at Phillip Island. However, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK rider was back on form at Portimao.
The Dutch rider finished sixth, seventh, and fifth across the three races at the Portuguese circuit. These results were the first time that van der Mark has reached the top ten in the 2025 World Superbike season.
"In the end, it has been quite a good weekend," van der Mark told WorldSBK.com on Sunday.
"We made some good steps during the test. Yesterday [Saturday], I struggled a lot in the race. So, I was not happy with the result, but today, we found some extra speed and got some more confidence.
"To end up with a P5 is not so bad."
During Race Two at Portimao, van der Mark appeared to be in the hunt for a podium. However, a red flag delayed his progress, and he had to settle for fifth place after the restart.
"It is hard to say it was still quite a long race," he explained when asked if he could have challenged for a podium had it not been for the red flag.
"We did not really know what to expect. But I was happy after the restart. I had a good start, and I stayed out of trouble.
"I tried as much as I could to fight for the podium, but it was good because even though I was riding alone, I had a good pace."
The next round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship will be the Dutch World Superbike Round at van der Mark's home circuit of Assen.
After making progress at Portimao, he wants to be in the fight for the podium at his home round.
"Our confidence is growing, and together with Toprak [Razgatlioglu], we did a fantastic job this weekend," he stated.
"After a really tough weekend in Phillip Island, we all kept working, and the team has made some massive progress."
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