FANTASTIC FOURTH FOR VAN DER MARK AT MISANO
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team rider Michael van der Mark took a fantastic fourth place during Round 9 of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Misano today, having started the first race from 11th position on the grid.
The race was run in typically hot and humid conditions with no sign of the rain showers that disrupted proceedings on the opening day in Misano. After a difficult qualifying van der Mark started from 11th on the grid. Van der Mark had missed the top six by less than one tenth of a second.
A lightning start to the race and an aggressive opening lap from van der Mark saw him quickly on terms with the leading group as he settled into a fast and consistent rhythm. The 25-year-old Dutch rider managed to up his pace after passing Tom Sykes for fourth at half race distance, but didn’t quite have the extra speed or the laps remaining to challenge for the final place on the podium.
Michael van der Mark, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – P4 +4.921: “This morning I felt better with the bike again and made a big step during Superpole 1, improving my lap time a lot but, unfortunately, in the second session I had so much spin with the qualifier towards the end of the lap I couldn’t improve as much and to start P11 at Misano is not ideal. I had a really good start, a bit lucky in the first few corners, but made it through to the leading group quite early. My pace was really consistent and I was a little bit faster at the end, but not quite quick enough to challenge for the final podium position. I’m really happy with the work we’ve done and tomorrow, starting from pole, I hope we can put up a good fight for the podium.”
Van der Mark is confident of a strong performance in tomorrow’s second race, which the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team rider will start from pole position.