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Misano test 2016

VAN DER MARK AND HAYDEN MAKE THE MOST OF POST-RACE OFFICIAL TEST AT MISANO

  |   News Racing

The Honda WorldSBK Team has completed a one-day official test at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ following the eighth round of the 2016 season, which drew to a close yesterday at the same venue. Michael van der Mark completed 89 laps of the Italian track and was seventh quickest in the combined times of the two four-hour sessions. Despite rain being forecast, only few drops of rain fell during the day, with the riders able to enjoy warm temperatures and a full-dry conditions in the afternoon.

Both Nicky Hayden and Van der Mark tried new tyres brought by Pirelli, with the American evaluating new rear compounds while the young Dutchman focused on front rubber. Their best lap-times were very close, as Van der Mark (1’35.430) was 0.135s faster than Hayden. Both sides of the garage evaluated different items and solutions left to be tested after the private test done at the start of the month, along with new settings developed with the information gathered the racing weekend.

The team will now return to its Dutch headquarters to analyse the data and get ready for round nine, which takes place in three weeks at Laguna Seca in California.

Michael van der Mark: “It has been a good day. We evaluated many things without caring too much about lap-times. It was also good to return to the track straight after the end of the round. Towards the end of the day, we went back to the race set-up and tried some tweaks with suspension settings and front fork and my times were improving lap by lap. We ended the day very strong and my pace was competitive, so now we have a much clearer idea of our package ahead of Laguna.”