VAN DER MARK CRASHES ON TO MAGNY-COURS PODIUM
Michael van der Mark finished second in today’s tenth round World Supersport championship race at Magny-Cours in France, in spite of crashing at the infamous Adelaide hairpin on lap seven. Starting from the second row of the grid in wet conditions at the 4.411km French circuit, van der Mark, who was crowned 2014 World Supersport champion after the previous round at Jerez in Spain, settled into third place behind early race leader Kenan Sofuoglu and Jules Cluzel. However, while running a relatively lonely race, the 21-year-old Dutch ace lost the front of his Honda CBR600RR on the seventh of the scheduled 17 laps. Van der Mark picked up his machine and rejoined the race in seventh place, fighting his way back to second after Sofuoglu himself crashed out of the lead.
Michael van der Mark: “First of all I want to thank my team because I gave them a lot of work to do after I crashed in the warm-up this morning. They did a great job and gave me a bike that I was able to be really fast on immediately. Unfortunately I had a small crash at the hairpin which cost me a few places but when I picked up the bike I was able to go fast again straight away so I could get by the guys in front of me. I feel sorry for Kenan because he really deserved the win today but I’m happy to finish second.”
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator: “This morning’s warm-up didn’t quite go to plan when Michael crashed on his second lap. It meant we couldn’t really get a good feel for the wet conditions here but when the race began he was fast. He crashed out while fighting for second and had to get his way back there, which was a good effort.”