FIM Supersport World Championship
Assen, Netherlands
April 27, 2014
Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR600RR), 18 laps, 29:47.030
2. Florian MARINO, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -9.494 seconds
3. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), -14.988
4. Kev COGHLAN, UK (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.131
5. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -17.430
6. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -20.266
7. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -20.662
8. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -21.370
9. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -23.557
10. K. WAHR, Germany (Yamaha YZF-R6), -25.908
22. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -6 laps, DNF, mechanical
23. Jack KENNEDY, Ireland (Honda CBR600RR), -10 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 3 of 12 races):
1. Marino, 49 points
2. Van der Mark, 45
3. Coghlan, 44
4. Cluzel, 41
5. De Rosa, 34
6. Tamburini, 29
7. Sofuoglu, 25
8. Zanetti, 24
9. Rolfo, 19
10. Wahr, 16
14. TIE, Gowland/Jacobsen/Menghi/Wilairot, 9
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Supersport Team:
Van der Mark delights Dutch crowd with Assen victory
Pata Honda’s Michael van der Mark won today’s third round World Supersport race at Assen in the Netherlands today, dominating the 18-lap race to the delight of an ecstatic home crowd.
It was the first World Supersport race win for the 21-year-old Dutch rider and particularly poignant for his team which is based just 70km south of the 4.542km circuit. Following his second place at Aragon last week, van der Mark now moves to second place in the series, just four points off the lead.
Starting from third place on the grid, van der Mark took the lead from Kenan Sofuoglu on lap three and was never headed – putting in a series of remarkably and consistently fast laps, including a new lap record of 1m38.587s, to open up a lead of almost 10 seconds at the flag.
Van der Mark’s Pata Honda team-mate, Lorenzo Zanetti, recovered from an indifferent start to finish fifth in today’s race. The Italian rider sits in eighth place in the championship table ahead of his own home race at Imola in two weeks’ time.
Michael van der Mark – first
That was unbelievable! We’ve been fast all weekend but my start wasn’t really that great. I was third and followed Kenan [Sofuoglu] and Florian [Marino] for the first two laps and saw immediately that I was faster. When I passed Kenan I kept pushing and the race pace was so incredibly fast that I was able to pull away from the guys all through the race. It was the first time I’ve led my home race and I didn’t want to make any mistakes and at the end I won with about nine seconds. The slow-down lap was amazing to see all the Dutch fans waving and yelling at me! It’s incredible to take your first win in front of your home crowd, plus your sponsors, family and friends. I want to thank everyone, including everyone in my team and the Clinica Mobile, because I had a bad fever this morning and they got me ready to race today.
Lorenzo Zanetti – fifth
In the end I think it’s been a positive weekend. Like Portimao, this is one of my weaker circuits so to take fifth is not too bad. I had a little problem with the front tyre from the start. I never any problems with this tyre before but there was a lot of movement. Without this problem, maybe I could have fought with Marino and Sofuoglu, but Mikey [van der Mark] had a really good rhythm this weekend. The whole team has worked really well this weekend though and this is a positive, so it means I can really look forward to Imola. Congratualtions to Mikey, of course. His win is the result of hard work by all the team over the winter, but he rode very well today.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
It was a sensational win for Michael which has made everyone very happy. It’s the first time that a Dutch rider from a Dutch team has won a World Supersport race in front of a Dutch crowd at Assen so we are all very glad. He’s been strong all weekend and in the race he was in another class – at times lapping almost a second faster than the guy in second. He brought it home for a day to remember. Lorenzo had a good race, too, and was fighting for third until the end. He had some front tyre issues which stopped him going for the podium but it’s been a very, very good day for the Supersport team.