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Saturday Assen 2016

NO REWARD FOR VAN DER MARK AT ASSEN IN A SPECTACULAR RACE ONE

  |   News Racing

Michael van der Mark has crashed out of today’s first World Superbike race at the TT Circuit Assen while he was in second position after an incredible on-track performance for the local rider. But despite a disappointing end to the race, Van der Mark once again showed all his talent on board the Honda WorldSBK Team’s CBR1000RR Fireblade SP as the 23-year-old battled hard with the leaders and even got his turn at the front, sending the home crowd into raptures. He was riding in second place on lap 20 of 21, when he lost the front. When he made his way back to the pit-box, a standing ovation was in store for him from his proud fans.

Michael van der Mark (DNF): “In Superpole it was all a bit of a gamble, really, but I felt fine on the bike even though the wind was really strong and made our job a bit more difficult. The laps I did with the race tyres were OK and with the qualifying rubber I made a mistake and lost a bit of time, but fifth was still a decent result. My race start was not the best and I stayed calm in the first couple of laps, then I built up some good speed and had a nice battle at the front with Chaz Davies and especially with Jonathan Rea. I felt I was much quicker in some areas but I was also losing a bit of ground at the exit of turn 5. I knew I had the pace to at least be on the podium but I wanted to win, so I was planning to attack at some point in the last two laps. Unfortunately I lost the front at turn 3 and that was a real shame, because the podium was there. We know what to change for tomorrow and hopefully we can make up what we lost today.”