Title Image

Blog

Imola preview 2016

HONDA WORLDSBK TEAM LOOKING TO KEEP MOMENTUM GOING AT IMOLA

  |   News Racing

Imola’s ‘Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari’ is hosting round five of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship this weekend, with Honda WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden ready for action around the 4.936km iconic Italian venue after a pair of top 3 finishes at Assen.

In front of his home crowd, two Saturdays ago van der Mark put up a spectacular show of riding skills and determination in race one, which unfortunately ended with a crash on the penultimate lap while he was running second. Race two saw the young Dutchman riding solidly in third for what turned out to be his fourth podium finish of the season in just four rounds. With a full-year’s worth of experience in the series and a perfect synergy with his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine, Van der Mark is confident of good results in Italy.

Michael van der Mark: “I’m really looking forward to Imola, a track that I really enjoy riding. With the big improvements made to the Fireblade over the winter and in the first four rounds, I’m pretty sure we will be much more competitive than last year. Given the many podiums we have collected so far, my goal for the Italian round is to be at least in the top 5. The team and I have some ideas to improve the bike setup and we will try some new things, which we didn’t have time to evaluate in Assen. I cannot wait to get back on track.”