It’s a welcome return for the Dutch rider as Michael van der Mark returns for the Most WSB round after missing a lot of the 2023 World Superbike season due to injury.
A big crash in race two at Assen saw Van der Mark leave his home round with a fractured left femur, which has required surgery and time to heal. During his recovery period, the Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team brought in Ivo Miguel Lopes, Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam as substitutes riders, but it’ll be good to see the Dutch rider back on the BMW M 1000 RR, especially as he also missed races in 2022 after breaking his right tibia in a mountain bike crash, and his right femur after high-siding at the Estoril round.
Toprak Razgatlioglu joining the team next year. With the 2021 WSB champion slotting into the factory team, it seems likely he’ll be partnered by Van der Mark for the second time in their careers (they were previously team-mates at Yamaha).
British rider Scott Redding has previously confirmed he’ll be staying in the series for 2024, but the 2019 BSB champion still needs to confirm which team he’ll ride for, and it seems likely he’ll move to the Bonovo Action BMW team. And with Garret Gerloff on the second year of his contract, that means the rider likely to be moving on will be Loris Baz. Currently Redding it the top BMW in the 2023 series in 12th overall in the standings, with a best result of fourth, followed by Gerloff in 14th and Baz in 16th, with Van der Mark in 18th after missing the rounds at Barcelona, Misano, Donington and Imola.
Check out all of our motorcycle sport coverage, here.
Related
Bonovo action BMW Sign Laverty and Baz for WorldSBK
There will be another two-rider squad on the grid next year as Bonovo action BMW sign Laverty and Baz for WorldSBK in 2022.
Eugene Laverty will enter his third consecutive season with BMW Motorrad Motorsport, with the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland racing in World Superbikes since 2011. He’ll be joined by Loris Baz, who is returning from the Moto America series. The 28-year-old French rider has two World SBK victories in his career, with a total of 18 podiums, and finished fourth in the American series in 2021.
Eugene Laverty: “I’m very happy to continue with BMW Motorrad and join the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team for the 2022 World Superbike season. It is fantastic to remain in the BMW WorldSBK family. The past six months have been tough for me as a rider and so I’m very grateful for the continued support and belief from everyone involved in this project. I’m very motivated to repay that faith in my abilities and I feel confident that following a solid winter testing campaign we can arrive ready and competitive at round one.”
Click here.