FIM Supersport World Championship

Motorland Aragon, Spain

April 12, 2014

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Kev COGHLAN, UK (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:01.662

2. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:01.800

3. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:01.809

4. Florian MARINO, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:01.992

5. Mark VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.035

6. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:02.043

7. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.370

8. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:02.476

9. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.525

10. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.596

More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Supersport Team:

Van der Mark and Zanetti in Spanish podium hunt

Pata Honda riders Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti have qualified in fifth and seventh places respectively for tomorrow’s second-round World Supersport race at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

This afternoon’s 45-minute qualifying session at the 5.344km circuit 250km west of Barcelona was held in warm and dry conditions with both Pata Honda riders able to improve lap times on their Honda CBR600RR machines.

Dutchman, van der Mark, who finished on the podium in the corresponding race last year was frustrated at missing out on a front row start, but is confident of a competitive race pace for tomorrow’s 15-lap race.

Lorenzo, meanwhile, has been battling pain from the middle finger of his left hand, which he injured in a qualifying crash during the opening round in Australia. The Italian fought until the final minute of qualifying to lift his starting position to the third row.

Michael van der Mark – 5th, 2m02.035s

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to resolve the problem we had this morning, which was getting the bike to stop properly. But we made a small step overall – the race pace is OK but we need to improve and go faster than this. I’m not really happy with today, but I’m sure we can find a better set-up for tomorrow and stay near the front.

Lorenzo Zanetti – P7, 2m02.370s

It was a difficult day because I wasn’t able to stay in the top five. The hard tyre was not so good for me today so right at the end of qualifying we put in the B tyre and I was able to improve the time a bit more. Seventh is not the front two rows, but with the problem with my hand it’s not too bad. Sometimes when I downshift, my foot is faster than the hand and I lose some gears. But I’m positive for tomorrow and with some adrenalin for the race I think I can fight.

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

Seventh is OK for Lorenzo who was able to improve his lap time significantly in the last minutes. We need to find some more speed and we’ll try some different things in warm-up. Michael had some problems stopping the bike but it’s not immediately obvious why from the data. In the end we made a change and, instead of getting him in for a fresh tyre at the end, he stayed out and did some more laps. For the race, I’m sure he will run for the podium, but for sure we’re in for a fight.