It's now official: Belgian rider Bastien Mackels has joined Team SWPN as a full-time rider, effective immediately. Team manager Frank Brouwer pulled out all the stops to make this happen.
Until now, Mackels had been serving as a substitute rider for the injured Rob Hartog, but the Dutchman will also be sidelined at the Schleizer Dreieck, while Mackels is already second overall in the IDM Superbike series and is thus among the title favorites. “We have now decided together with Yamaha Benelux and the sponsors that Bastien will race for us on a permanent basis,” said team manager Frank Brouwer, who has thrown his support behind the move. The 37-year-old Mackels has secured podium finishes in the past six races on the Yamaha YZF-R1M and has not had a single retirement. The results have been impressive.
However, he will be absent from the Red Bull Ring in August, along with Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) and Ilya Mikhalchik (BCC ALPHA VAN ZON BMW RACING), due to a scheduling conflict with the FIM Endurance World Championship in Suzuka. Mackels sets clear priorities: “I have a contract with the Endurance World Championship, and that takes precedence. When I started the season, there was no talk of the IDM at all.”
Rob Hartog’s debut in Germany’s top motorcycle racing class, however, is still a long way off. He tested at Assen last week, but he’s still experiencing shoulder pain and has to sit this one out.