Michael van der Mark is to get his MotoGP chance after all.
After missing out at Aragon, when he was called up to replace Valentino Rossi, but Rossi raced to a stunning 5th place, Van der Mark has been drafted in to replace Jonas Folger in the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team.
Van der Mark will take Folger’s place at the Sepang MotoGP race next weekend.
This may not be Van der Mark’s only appearance on a MotoGP bike this season. Though Jonas Folger is still undergoing tests to diagnose his illness, the most probable explanation is a recurrence of the Epstein Barr virus, which he has had previously.
Though very rare, the disease can sometimes flare up again years after first being caught. This makes it likely that Folger will also be forced to miss the final race of 2017 at Valencia, in which case Van der Mark would be the obvious choice to replace him.
Van der Mark’s call up leaves the Dutchman with a very busy schedule. Having just completed the second race of the Spanish round of WorldSBK on Sunday, he must now make his way to Malaysia, for the MotoGP race at Sepang.
After the Sepang race, he will then have to get on a plane to Qatar, for the last round of WorldSBK.
From there, he will head home to Europe, but that trip could include a stopover at Valencia to fill in for Folger, if the German is absent at the final MotoGP round.
Photo: Yamaha Racing
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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