DIFFICULT RACE DAY FOR VAN DER MARK
Pata Honda Michael van der Mark endured a torrid race day in today’s sixth round World Superbike championship races at Donington Park in the UK, crashing out of race one and then being forced to retire from the second 23-lap outing at the 4.023km Donington Park circuit with a technical issue. The team will re-group for the seventh round WSBK meeting at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimao in Portugal in a little under two weeks seeking further positive progress with the CBR package.
Michael van der Mark (DNF & DNF): “There’s not really much to say because it’s been the most disappointing weekend for me on a superbike. I felt like we made some progress during each session except in Superpole yesterday when I could not get the qualifying tyre to work. That left me quite a long way back on the grid so I was pushing hard in race one to make up some places when I crashed. I’m not sure what the problem was in race two but there was a technical problem with the front of the bike that meant I could not continue. It’s a shame but we will learn from these issues as we always try to and move forward to Portugal.”