After the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team tested with only Scott Redding at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, the team have drafted in Ukrainian rider Ilya Mikhalchik for their final two MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship tests at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and MotorLand Aragon; the latter the Dorna-Supported test ahead of the Aragon Round.

Mikhalchik will replace Michael van der Mark for the two tests as the Dutchman recovers from a fractured leg he sustained during a training accident when out on a mountain bike. With van der Mark unable to continue his testing programme, the factory BMW squad will have Redding back in action in Barcelona and Aragon alongside Mikhalchik.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian is part of the BMW family and is a factory rider for the German manufacturer. Mikhalchik has three German Superbike titles to his name, in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and they all came on BMW machinery. He has also represented the German manufacturer in the FIM Endurance World Championship and in 2022 will compete in the Spanish Superbike championship.

Mikhalchik has experience inside the WorldSBK paddock too having competed in the European Junior Cup, STK600, STK1000 and WorldSSP; standing on the podium once in STK1000 and European Junior Cup.
 
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, said: “First of all, we wish Michael a good and speedy recovery, of course. His absence shortly before the start of the season is obviously very unfortunate. With him being absent we partly were missing a reference to last year’s topics which made the test work a bit more difficult. However, in Ilya we have a very good replacement, who will stand in for him at the next two tests. With him we can now work through the test list, fine-tune the 2022 package and Michael’s crew can gel. Ilya knows the BMW M 1000 RR well and is thus able to provide valuable input. He is a strong BMW factory rider and has thus earned the opportunity to test the WorldSBK package. Nevertheless, our two days of testing have been overall very constructive. Our new riders could gather experience with the BMW M 1000 RR and get acquainted with the new developments.”

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