VAN DER MARK AND HAYDEN CHARGED UP FOR MISANO
The Honda WorldSBK Team has returned to Italy to take part in the eighth round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship this weekend. Hosting the event this time is the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’: the same venue where, at the start of the month of June, Michael van der Mark, Nicky Hayden and the Netherlands-based squad performed a successful one-day private test not only to fully prepare for the weekend itself, but also for getting a good set-up for the remainder of the season.
In his maiden World Superbike season last year, Van der Mark left Misano with a couple of top 10 finishes, while in 2014 he was second at the line in the WorldSSP race after a good battle with Jules Cluzel. The Misano test proved very useful for the 23-year-old from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, who has got back the good feeling he had with his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine earlier in the season. With some renewed confidence on hand, ‘Magic Mike’ now aims to get back in the mix at the sharp end of the field.
Michael van der Mark: “After the test in Misano I found a good feeling with my Fireblade again. We definitely needed that test and I want to thank the team and Honda for setting it up. It’s time for us to put a good weekend together and get back where we belong, as we have been missing the podium for a few rounds now. It’s the second half of the season now so every race is crucial for the final classification and we cannot afford ourselves just OK results anymore. I’m really looking forward to the weekend now and hopefully we’ll be able to get what we’re here for.”