Great Recovery to Seventh for Hayden in Final Race of the Season

[totalmotorcycle]

Great Recovery to Seventh for @Hayden in Final #Race of the Season


The lights on the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship went off today as the series lived its final race of the season at the Losail International Circuit. Honda WorldSBK Team’s Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark finished in 7th and 11th places, respectively, at the end of a shortened 10-lap race two in Qatar. The initial encounter was red flagged during the eighth lap after a technical problem occurred to the bike of local rider Saeed Al Sulaiti.

After starting from pit-lane, Nicky Hayden made his way up to 15th position before the red flag was deployed. At the restart, the 35-year-old American gained some positions and, in the final four laps, he was able to find some extra pace that allowed him to join the 4-way battle for fifth. Hayden made a couple of successful moves on Fores and De Rosa before the checkered flag to end up seventh.

Michael van der Mark got a great launch off row three but ended up losing several positions as he was pushed wide at turn one. The former World Supersport Champion made up some ground and by lap eight he was back to ninth place. When the new race got underway, van der Mark moved up to eighth place but could not hold on to it and finished eleventh in his last race with the team and Honda.

The final standings see Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Honda Rider Comments
Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race2/7th“It has not been an easy day. Towards the end of the race yesterday we started experiencing a little bit of a problem. We hoped it was due to some changes we made but as soon as I went out in the warm up it was still there so I only did one lap and that was it. The team had to change the engine and we had to start from the pit-lane, which is not nice but those are the rules! I got away pretty well, was chipping away and making some moves and luckily for me the race was red flagged. I was back in the group although still back in 15th place but again I started chipping away and had some nice battles and in the end I was seventh, which from pit-lane is definitely not bad! I also was able to make up a couple of places on the last lap and that was nice, too. All things considered, given the time we also lost in warm up, it was not an easy day but we salvaged something. I want to thank the team, all my crew, the sponsors and everybody behind me: I’m now looking forward to next year.”Michael van der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race2/11th“I really good start in the first race but I had a big moment in turn one as I got hit from behind. I was way back again and was struggling to get up to speed. After the red flag we changed a little bit the bike setup for the second start and I got away quite well again, but even with new tires I struggled to find the right grip. It was quite frustrating, because I thought we would have made quite a step forward but thing simply didn’t work today. Of course, I wish the season and my journey with Honda would have ended with a better result, but fourth in the championship is a great achievement and I want to thank all the guys for the hard work they have done. I think we can be really happy with what we’ve done this year.”Pieter Breddels: Race2“The day didn’t start off well as we had to change the engine on Nicky’s bike and that meant he had to start from pit-lane. The red flag really came to our assistance and in the new 10-lap sprint race he showed a great pace, especially at the end. So all in all, compared to how it looked at the beginning, a seventh place is a pretty good result. Michael unfortunately wasn’t as comfortable as expected in the first part of the race, so we decided to make some changes during the red flag break. He still didn’t have the right amount grip and that made him an easy target for his rivals. Eleventh is not the result we would have hoped for Michael’s last race with us, but we want to thank him for an amazing four years together. He has many years of racing ahead of him so, who knows, maybe our paths will cross again at some point?”
Michael van der MarkzoomMichael van der Mark Honda World Superbike TeamzoomHonda World Superbike Team
Hayden Battles from Front Row to Claim Fifth Place in Race One at Losail

Nicky Hayden has finished the 17-lap, penultimate race of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship in fifth place, after securing an excellent second spot on the grid in Superpole. Under the floodlights of Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, Hayden’s Honda WorldSBK team mate Michael van der Mark was ninth after starting from the third row and experiencing a difficult opening lap of the encounter.

Hayden got a great launch off the front row the grid and maintained his position entering turn one, before dropping down one place in the following change of direction. The experienced American rider held on to third place until the start of lap eight, when he was passed by Sylvain Guintoli at the end of the main straight. Hayden did all he could to stay with the Frenchman but as the laps went by, he gradually lost ground and found himself under pressure from Sykes. Hayden was unable to defend his position as he crossed the line fifth, only 0.160s away from his rival.

Van der Mark did not enjoy the best of starts from ninth place and dropped all the way down to 17th on the opening lap. The young Dutchman was able to make up some ground in the early part of the race and – by lap 7 – he was already back to ninth. Van der Mark kept a consistent rhythm throughout the remaining laps and kept his position at the flag.

The final encounter of the World Superbike season will get underway tomorrow at 21:00 local time (GMT +3).

Honda Rider Comments
Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race1/5th“I made a very good lap in Superpole and I admit it was really happy with it. I made a good start and tried to stay with Davies and Rea in the beginning, but unfortunately I just didn’t have the pace. As the tires went off, things got worse for me and unfortunately I finished fifth after doing a big part of the race on the podium. As you can imagine, I’m not too pumped with that but luckily I have a good team and we have some good data, so we will surely try to pull a few tweaks and see if we can do better tomorrow.”Michael van der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race1/9th“Free Practice 3 didn’t really give us any really important information, because the sun was out and the temperatures were extremely different than at night time. Then in Superpole 1 after an early mistake I did what I thought was not a great lap, but in the end it turned to be a really competitive one and that meant I could move on to Superpole 2. Unfortunately, with the qualifying tire I felt not as good as I would have liked and that translated into ninth place on the grid. I was happy with the pace on my race tires but I had another problem at the start, which cost me so many places. It’s a shame, really, because we know that halfway through the race here it’s basically impossible to make up ground, so there was very little I could do.”Pieter Breddels: Race1“Nicky had an incredible qualifying and his lap was 0.3secs faster than last year’s best lap. He started the race very well, but unfortunately he couldn’t hang on to third place and, in the end, he got beaten by only a tenth of a second for fourth place. He still has some little issues and that’s what we are going to work on ahead of tomorrow. If we can hang on to the podium in race two that would be a great end to the season. Michael did an excellent job in Superpole 1, but then in Superpole 2 he couldn’t do better than ninth after what was a very close qualifying session. Unfortunately for him, he had a problem at the start and although he was able to recover many places in the first half, he ended up doing the same lap times as the guys ahead. He made up some more ground in the end, but that wasn’t enough.”
Nicky HaydenzoomNicky Hayden Nicky HaydenzoomNicky Hayden
Jacobsen Ends the Season with Fourth Place in Qatar

PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team have completed the 2016 edition of the FIM Supersport World Championship in fourth place in the title race. In the final encounter of the season, which was contested today at the Losail International Circuit, the 23-year-old American rider was just one position off a podium place at the checkered flag. The racing year for Jacobsen ends with a tally of four podium finishes – two seconds and two thirds – and 135 points scored across the twelve races.

Jacobsen got a good start from ninth place and, by the end of the opening lap, he was already up to fourth. On board his Honda CBR600RR, PJ pushed hard not to lose touch with the leading pack, but eventually he had to give up on his podium hopes as the laps went by. In the final stages of the race, Jacobsen consolidated his fourth place and fended off a determined Randy Krummenacher.

Honda Rider Comments
Patrick Jacobsen (Honda World Supersport Team)
Race result: 6th“Today I did the best that I could. The team really worked well but fourth was the maximum I could get. I tried to stay with the front runners at the beginning but I simply didn’t have the pace nor feeling to push really hard and ride like I wanted to. It’s a shame not to have made second place in the championship, but I want to thank the team, Honda and all the boys for a great opportunity and all their hard work this year.”Pieter Breddels“We tried something this morning with the bike but it didn’t turn out to be the right change and it cost us some time, but at least it gave us a better idea on what to do ahead of the race. PJ had a great start and he looked like he could get into the battle for the podium, but he got stuck into fourth position and then couldn’t make time up on the leaders. This was not enough to improve our championship position, and fourth place is what we got at the end. I feel we could have finished higher this year, but that’s racing, and sometimes things just don’t go the way you’d like them to.”
Patrick JacobsenzoomPatrick Jacobsen

World Superbike and World Supersport 2016
Round 13: Losail International Circuit – Qatar

Superbike Race 1


Rank

Rider (Team)

1 Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
3 Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
4 Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
5 Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team)
6 Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team)
7 Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
8 Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team)
9 Michael van der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team)
10 Lorenzo Savadori (IodaRacing Team)
11 Leon Haslam (Pedercini Racing)
12 Raffaele de Rosa (Althea BMW Racing Team)
13 Alex De Angelis (IodaRacing Team)
14 Román Ramos (Team GoEleven)
15 Joshua Brookes (Milwaukee BMW)

Superbike Race 2


Rank

Rider (Team)

1 Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2 Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
4 Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
5 Leon Haslam (Pedercini Racing)
6 Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team)
7 Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team)
8 Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team)
9 Raffaele de Rosa (Althea BMW Racing Team)
10 Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
11 Michael van der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team)
12 Lorenzo Savadori (IodaRacing Team)
13 Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)
14 Román Ramos (Team GoEleven)
15 Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team)

Supersport


Rank

Rider (Team)

1 Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda)
2 Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
3 Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)
4 Patrick Jacobsen (Honda World Supersport Team)
5 Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
6 Ayrton Badovini (Gemar Balloons - Team Lorini)
7 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura)
8 Christoffer Bergman (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda)
9 Massimo Roccoli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)
10 Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25)
11 Ondrej Jezek (Team GoEleven)
12 Loris Cresson (RPM84)
13 Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda)
14 Kyle Ryde (Schmidt Racing)
15 Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing)