Positive steps for van der Mark in USA
Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:55 pm
Positive steps for @vanderMark in #USA
Michael van der Mark took his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to eighth and seventh place finishes respectively in today’s two ninth-round World Superbike championship races at Laguna Seca in the USA.
Both 25-lap races were won by British rider Chaz Davies as van der Mark, 22, got two good starts from a lowly 15th place on the grid. Race one turned out to be a relatively lonely affair, the Dutch rider finishing in eighth place, nine seconds behind Pata Honda team-mate Sylvain Guintoli.
Guintoli himself enjoyed an impressive start in the first outing, running as high as fifth in the early stages after starting from ninth place on the grid. The reigning World Superbike champion eventually finished seventh.
Rain threatened the 3.61km Laguna circuit for race two and, indeed, spots began falling early in the race but they amounted to nothing. However, during the uncertainty and following a solid start, Guintoli was jostling for position towards the end of lap two when Alex Lowes entered pit lane, colliding with the 33-year-old Frenchman. Guintoli damaged his right thumb in the ensuing crash but was otherwise unhurt.
Van der Mark was left to fly the Pata Honda flag alone, bringing his CBR home in a creditable seventh place. He leaves California immediately to fly to Japan where he is targeting a third successive victory in the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race next Sunday.
Michael van der Mark - 8th and 7th
It’s been quite a difficult weekend and, together with trying to learn this amazing circuit, we have struggled to get the bike set up properly, so I had to come a long way from 15th on the grid. I made a really good start in the first race and moved forward about five places. But I couldn’t keep up with the guys in front of me and ended up in a lonely and boring race for eighth. In race two I had another good start and had a better feeling with the CBR. I was able to keep pushing throughout the race so, in the end, I’m quite happy to get two solid top ten finishes. I’m in a good frame of mind for the 8 Hours now, which I’m really looking forward to.
Sylvain Guintoli - 7th and DNF
I had a really good start to race one but I wasn’t able to keep the pace after the first few laps. I felt I was losing out on corner exit and having to try really hard to make it up on the brakes, which was difficult. In race two, the start was OK but on lap two I was lining up to pass into the last corner when [Alex] Lowes entered the pit lane without any signal and I crashed. It was a really, really upsetting way to finish the weekend, but we’ll just have to come back fighting in Sepang in two weeks.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
Sylvain had a great start in race one but he had to drop the pace a little bit and finished seventh, which was OK, but we all want to be closer to the front, of course. On the second lap of race two he collided with Alex Lowes who decided to pit when Sylvain was on the left-hand side, which was the wrong side for him. That was a very unfortunate way to finish the weekend. Michael had to come from a long way back in 15th on the grid but got a really good start in race one. He immediately jumped to tenth place and finished in a lonely eighth. He had quite a good race two and was a long time behind Canepa but eventually passed him and got away, but by then the front runners were gone. Considering his starting position, eighth and seventh are two solid results and we’ll take those to the next round.
Weather
Overcast
Air
22°C
Track
27°C
Humidity
74%
Race 1 Results
1 Chaz Davies 35m15.693s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Tom Sykes +1.798s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Jonathan Rea +2.107s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Davide Guigliano +15.954s ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
5 Jordi Torres +19.661s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Alex Lowes +24.431s GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
7 Sylvain Guintoli +26.971s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
8 Michael van der Mark +35.428s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
9 Leandro Mercado +41.261s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Leon Camier +44.383s GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Weather
Overcast
Air
26°C
Track
33°C
Humidity
60%
Race 2 Results
1 Chaz Davies 35m13.816s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Tom Sykes +1.406s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Jonathan Rea +1.982s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Jordi Torres +16.551s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
5 Leon Haslam +17.772s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Ayrton Badovini +31.735s ITA BMW JR Racing Team
7 Michael van der Mark +34.446s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
8 Niccolo Canepa +38.048s ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
9 Leandro Mercado +41.755s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Leon Camier +49.105s GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Championship Standings
1 Jonathan Rea 407 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Tom Sykes 282 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Chaz Davies 263 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
4 Leon Haslam 240 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
5 Jordi Torres 164 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Sylvain Guintoli 136 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
7 Davide Guigliano 119 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
8 Michael van der Mark 114 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
9 Leandro Mercado 104 pts ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Alex Lowes 94 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
Michael van der Mark took his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to eighth and seventh place finishes respectively in today’s two ninth-round World Superbike championship races at Laguna Seca in the USA.
Both 25-lap races were won by British rider Chaz Davies as van der Mark, 22, got two good starts from a lowly 15th place on the grid. Race one turned out to be a relatively lonely affair, the Dutch rider finishing in eighth place, nine seconds behind Pata Honda team-mate Sylvain Guintoli.
Guintoli himself enjoyed an impressive start in the first outing, running as high as fifth in the early stages after starting from ninth place on the grid. The reigning World Superbike champion eventually finished seventh.
Rain threatened the 3.61km Laguna circuit for race two and, indeed, spots began falling early in the race but they amounted to nothing. However, during the uncertainty and following a solid start, Guintoli was jostling for position towards the end of lap two when Alex Lowes entered pit lane, colliding with the 33-year-old Frenchman. Guintoli damaged his right thumb in the ensuing crash but was otherwise unhurt.
Van der Mark was left to fly the Pata Honda flag alone, bringing his CBR home in a creditable seventh place. He leaves California immediately to fly to Japan where he is targeting a third successive victory in the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race next Sunday.
Michael van der Mark - 8th and 7th
It’s been quite a difficult weekend and, together with trying to learn this amazing circuit, we have struggled to get the bike set up properly, so I had to come a long way from 15th on the grid. I made a really good start in the first race and moved forward about five places. But I couldn’t keep up with the guys in front of me and ended up in a lonely and boring race for eighth. In race two I had another good start and had a better feeling with the CBR. I was able to keep pushing throughout the race so, in the end, I’m quite happy to get two solid top ten finishes. I’m in a good frame of mind for the 8 Hours now, which I’m really looking forward to.
Sylvain Guintoli - 7th and DNF
I had a really good start to race one but I wasn’t able to keep the pace after the first few laps. I felt I was losing out on corner exit and having to try really hard to make it up on the brakes, which was difficult. In race two, the start was OK but on lap two I was lining up to pass into the last corner when [Alex] Lowes entered the pit lane without any signal and I crashed. It was a really, really upsetting way to finish the weekend, but we’ll just have to come back fighting in Sepang in two weeks.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
Sylvain had a great start in race one but he had to drop the pace a little bit and finished seventh, which was OK, but we all want to be closer to the front, of course. On the second lap of race two he collided with Alex Lowes who decided to pit when Sylvain was on the left-hand side, which was the wrong side for him. That was a very unfortunate way to finish the weekend. Michael had to come from a long way back in 15th on the grid but got a really good start in race one. He immediately jumped to tenth place and finished in a lonely eighth. He had quite a good race two and was a long time behind Canepa but eventually passed him and got away, but by then the front runners were gone. Considering his starting position, eighth and seventh are two solid results and we’ll take those to the next round.
Weather
Overcast
Air
22°C
Track
27°C
Humidity
74%
Race 1 Results
1 Chaz Davies 35m15.693s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Tom Sykes +1.798s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Jonathan Rea +2.107s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Davide Guigliano +15.954s ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
5 Jordi Torres +19.661s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Alex Lowes +24.431s GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
7 Sylvain Guintoli +26.971s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
8 Michael van der Mark +35.428s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
9 Leandro Mercado +41.261s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Leon Camier +44.383s GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Weather
Overcast
Air
26°C
Track
33°C
Humidity
60%
Race 2 Results
1 Chaz Davies 35m13.816s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Tom Sykes +1.406s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Jonathan Rea +1.982s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Jordi Torres +16.551s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
5 Leon Haslam +17.772s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Ayrton Badovini +31.735s ITA BMW JR Racing Team
7 Michael van der Mark +34.446s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
8 Niccolo Canepa +38.048s ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
9 Leandro Mercado +41.755s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Leon Camier +49.105s GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Championship Standings
1 Jonathan Rea 407 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Tom Sykes 282 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Chaz Davies 263 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
4 Leon Haslam 240 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
5 Jordi Torres 164 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Sylvain Guintoli 136 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
7 Davide Guigliano 119 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
8 Michael van der Mark 114 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
9 Leandro Mercado 104 pts ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Alex Lowes 94 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki