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2016 Saturday Llausitz

NO LUCK FOR VAN DER MARK IN RACE ONE AT LAUSITZRING

  |   News Racing

Michael van der Mark has scored a sixth place in today’s first World Superbike race of the German Round at the Lausitzring. After a difficult performance in Superpole 2, Michael van der Mark had a good start from the fourth row of the grid and ran as high as fifth while showing a good race pace and battling for fourth. As the race entered its second half, the 23-year-old Dutchman began experiencing some rear-grip issues, which forced him to slow down his pace. Nevertheless, Van der Mark successfully defended his position until the end of the race and that allowed him to move up to fourth in the championship standings.

Michael van der Mark (6th): “Our FP3 session was OK: the track was wet and we needed to ride in those conditions, because the weather forecasts for the race were still uncertain. The track was drying up during Superpole so I kept an eye on the first session to see how it was; the track turned out to be almost fully dry during Superpole 2 and I was improving lap by lap, but unfortunately we ran out of time when it came to use the qualifying tyre. We surely didn’t need that mistake. I had a good start to the race but in the first corner I found myself stuck in traffic, although I think I still was able to make up a couple of places. From the first moment I started struggling with rear grip and, towards the end of the race, the problem became bigger and bigger, up to the point I wasn’t able to make any speed. I was able to pass Davide Giugliano and stay with Jordi Torres for many laps, although it was almost impossible to pass him. In the end I finished ahead of Davide and that means I am now fourth in the standings. He and Nicky are just few points away, though, so for tomorrow we definitely need to step up our game.”