WorldSBK 2016 Top 8 result for van der Mark and Hayden in race one at Sepang Round 6 – Malaysia Sepang International Cir
Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 6:11 pm
@WorldSBK 2016 Top 8 result for van der Mark and Hayden in race one at #Sepang Round 6 – Malaysia Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
The opening race of the Malaysian round has been contested today at the Sepang International Circuit, with Honda WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden crossing the line in seventh and eighth positions, respectively. The two riders will get another chance tomorrow as round six of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship will draw to a close with the second and final encounter of the weekend, scheduled at 4pm local time (GMT +8).
The Saturday afternoon action started with the sixth-round Superpole, which saw Nicky Hayden claiming his best qualifying result of his rookie WorldSBK season, in fourth place. Unable to take the best out of the qualifying tyre, Michael van der Mark found himself on the fourth row of the grid in tenth position.
As the race got underway, Hayden and van der Mark battled hard in the first few laps, with the American eventually getting the better of his teammate and starting his chase of the riders ahead. After a couple of successful overtaking manoeuvres, Hayden began experiencing grip issues and could not hold on to his pace as some of his rivals went past him. In the final part of the encounter, he was caught by van der Mark, who won the battle for seventh place over his fellow Honda WorldSBK rider.
Michael van der Mark 60
7th
To be honest, in today’s Superpole I made a couple of mistakes that didn’t allow me to be much faster on a qualifying tyre. I got a good start to the race and I was feeling good in the first couple of corners, but immediately I felt I was missing some grip and I couldn’t handle the bike the way I wanted. I couldn’t attack and not even stay with the guys at the front. I was just trying to keep the quickest possible pace but towards the end of the race, I was passed by a couple of riders. Eventually I was able to overtake Nicky for seventh before the chequered flag, but it was clear that we were both having our own difficulties. We need to make some changes for tomorrow and turn our luck around for race two.
- Honda WorldSBK
Nicky Hayden 69
8th
It surely wasn’t a fantastic race and it’s a bit of a shame, really, especially considering how the day started out. This morning in FP2 we were really strong and even if my Superpole wasn’t perfect, I still got my best qualifying place of the season. Despite a little electronic glitch at the start of the race I was still in a decent position but already from the second lap I had a huge drop off of grip. I still managed to make a couple of passes but the feeling with the bike was definitely not the same as before. We will surely go for a different tyre tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to put up a better fight.
- Honda WorldSBK
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
Nicky was great qualifying in fourth place but, before the race, we decided to make a gamble regarding the rear tyre to use. That really didn’t work out, even though we had some good information about it from before. From as early as the second lap it was clear that the tyre wasn’t working properly and by halfway through the race, his pace had slowed down considerably. There is a lot to analyse for tomorrow and it’ll surely be a long night for the guys. Michael didn’t have a good lap in Superpole but he got a good start to the race. He spent most of the race in eighth position and had some issues with the handling of the bike and tyre wear, which will both be addressed tonight. It hasn’t been the best of days but we are looking forward positively to tomorrow.
- Honda WorldSBK
The opening race of the Malaysian round has been contested today at the Sepang International Circuit, with Honda WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden crossing the line in seventh and eighth positions, respectively. The two riders will get another chance tomorrow as round six of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship will draw to a close with the second and final encounter of the weekend, scheduled at 4pm local time (GMT +8).
The Saturday afternoon action started with the sixth-round Superpole, which saw Nicky Hayden claiming his best qualifying result of his rookie WorldSBK season, in fourth place. Unable to take the best out of the qualifying tyre, Michael van der Mark found himself on the fourth row of the grid in tenth position.
As the race got underway, Hayden and van der Mark battled hard in the first few laps, with the American eventually getting the better of his teammate and starting his chase of the riders ahead. After a couple of successful overtaking manoeuvres, Hayden began experiencing grip issues and could not hold on to his pace as some of his rivals went past him. In the final part of the encounter, he was caught by van der Mark, who won the battle for seventh place over his fellow Honda WorldSBK rider.
Michael van der Mark 60
7th
To be honest, in today’s Superpole I made a couple of mistakes that didn’t allow me to be much faster on a qualifying tyre. I got a good start to the race and I was feeling good in the first couple of corners, but immediately I felt I was missing some grip and I couldn’t handle the bike the way I wanted. I couldn’t attack and not even stay with the guys at the front. I was just trying to keep the quickest possible pace but towards the end of the race, I was passed by a couple of riders. Eventually I was able to overtake Nicky for seventh before the chequered flag, but it was clear that we were both having our own difficulties. We need to make some changes for tomorrow and turn our luck around for race two.
- Honda WorldSBK
Nicky Hayden 69
8th
It surely wasn’t a fantastic race and it’s a bit of a shame, really, especially considering how the day started out. This morning in FP2 we were really strong and even if my Superpole wasn’t perfect, I still got my best qualifying place of the season. Despite a little electronic glitch at the start of the race I was still in a decent position but already from the second lap I had a huge drop off of grip. I still managed to make a couple of passes but the feeling with the bike was definitely not the same as before. We will surely go for a different tyre tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to put up a better fight.
- Honda WorldSBK
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
Nicky was great qualifying in fourth place but, before the race, we decided to make a gamble regarding the rear tyre to use. That really didn’t work out, even though we had some good information about it from before. From as early as the second lap it was clear that the tyre wasn’t working properly and by halfway through the race, his pace had slowed down considerably. There is a lot to analyse for tomorrow and it’ll surely be a long night for the guys. Michael didn’t have a good lap in Superpole but he got a good start to the race. He spent most of the race in eighth position and had some issues with the handling of the bike and tyre wear, which will both be addressed tonight. It hasn’t been the best of days but we are looking forward positively to tomorrow.
- Honda WorldSBK