On Track Off Road No. 196

2020 WorldSBK TALKING POINTS
Up against him is Michael van der Mark.
The Dutchman oozes natural ability. Riding
comes easy to him and at times in his career
he relied on his talent too much. In recent
years he’s been able to knuckle down and
get the most from himself. If you want an il-
lustration of what van der Mark can do, look
at some of his battles with Jonathan Rea.
Going toe to toe with the five times champi-
on doesn’t faze the Yamaha rider, and having
come out on top of those battles he’s clearly
not a man to be underestimated.
The same goes for Toprak who, like van der
Mark, claimed his first WorldSBK victory by
coming out on top in a gloves-off battle with
Rea. The young duo won’t be afraid of upset-
ting the apple cart. Being the first rider from
their countries to win WorldSBK races? Job
done. The objective now is the title.
They have the talent and both could cut it in
MotoGP. Winning is the key to getting there
on a good bike and giving themselves that
opportunity. The Netherlands is an impor-
tant market in motorsport, as seen by the
crowds at the Dutch TT and the return of
Formula 1 to the county, and Turkey has a lot
of eyeballs to engage with for television. For
both riders the road to MotoGP goes through
the opposite side of the garage.