Munich. Multiple Isle of Man TT winner Peter Hickman (GBR) will stand in for the injured Michael van der Mark (NED) in the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at the coming race weekend in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), in the Czech city of Most (29th to 31st July). This will be Hickman’s second appearance for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, having previously raced at Donington Park (GBR) in 2019. However, it is a matter of days since his last outing in WorldSBK when Hickman appeared as a wildcard starter with the FHO Racing BMW Team at round five of the season, which took place at Donington Park last weekend. “Hicky” claimed a hat-trick of victories at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy with the team at the end of June, winning all three 1,000 cc races on the BMW M 1000 RR.
Hickman made his WorldSBK debut in 2012 as a reserve rider for Suzuki at Donington Park. He then stood in for Markus Reiterberger (GER), who was suffering with an illness at the time, in the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at the same venue in 2019. He also was racing with the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team in the Le Mans (FRA) and Estoril (POR) endurance races in 2020. On the road racing scene, Hickman has been one of the very top riders with BMW, with numerous victories to his name at the Isle of Man TT and other prestigious international road racing events. He is also ‘the world’s fastest road racer’ with a lap of 136.415 mph, which he set on the BMW S 1000 RR at the 2019 Ulster Grand Prix.
BMW Motorrad factory rider Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), who replaced van der Mark at the season-opener at Aragón (ESP) and the recent events at Misano (ITA) and Donington Park, is already preparing for the third race of this season’s FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) at Suzuka, Japan. This will take place just one week after the Czech WorldSBK round. Mikhalchik is a regular rider in the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, which claimed the first 24-hour victory for BMW Motorrad at the second race of the season, the 24 HEURES MOTOS Spa at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL).
Van der Mark is expected to return to action on the #60 BMW M 1000 RR after the summer break. Following the races at Most, the WorldSBK takes a break for several weeks before the season resumes from 9th to 11th September at Magny-Cours (FRA).
