VAN DER MARK CONFIDENT AFTER LAUSITZRING PRIVATE TEST
The Honda WorldSBK Team has completed at successful two-day private test at the Lausitzring circuit in Germany. The World Superbike duo of Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden were joined by World Supersport peer PJ Jacobsen as they reunited with the Dutch-based team ahead of the German round of the World Superbike championship, which takes place at the same venue on September 16-18. Despite his previous experience at this track on 125cc machinery, Van der Mark had to learn his way around the Lausitzring on board the more powerful 1000cc Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.
With plenty of time available – six 40-minute sessions per day for a total of eight hours of track time – each rider completed more than 190 laps over the course of the two days, while evaluating new settings and components for their bikes.
Michael van der Mark: “The test was really good for us and a very useful one, because it has been a long time since I last came here – 2010 I think. We did a lot of laps – 119 today alone – but we were also able to gather some good information. Today we tried a couple of things that worked out really well and in the end we were able to improve the bike quite a lot. I’m really happy because we were not only fast but also very consistent on the long run; of course there is still room for improvement but we have a really good base to start with, so I cannot wait for the German round to start.”