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Friday Misano 2015

TIMES CLOSE ON OPENING DAY AT MISANO

  |   News Racing

Pata Honda rider Michael van der Mark finshed day one of the eighth-round World Superbike championship event at Misano in Italy in 17th place on combined times this afternoon, with WSBK returnee Max Biaggi topping the timesheets. The top 12 riders today were covered by just 0.8s.

Van der Mark had a dramatic crash in the first of today’s two 45-minute free practice sessions at the 4.226km Misano World Circuit. The 22-year-old Dutch rider parted company with his CBR at the fast turn 10 at a speed of 263kph but fortunately walked away unscathed. The crash required some smart work from his crew who were able to finish repairs to his damaged CBR just before this afternoon’s FP2 session; but van der Mark, too, is confident of improvements tomorrow, specifically in the braking areas of Misano’s tighter sections.

Michael van der Mark – P17, 1m36.841s: “I think that was probably my fastest ever crash today. I tried to go faster through turn ten but it was not possible! The guys did an awesome job getting the bike back together because it was quite badly damaged. They finished rebuilding just before we went out in the second practice and the CBR was working again without any problems, so full credit to the guys for the job they did. My main issue overall is getting the bike stopped. In the fast-flowing parts of the track I’m quite fast but the problem is in the slower sections. I’m quite sure that tomorrow we’ll find a solution to this.”