Van der Mark extends series lead by winning Sepang scorcher

[totalmotorcycle]

Van der Mark extends series lead by winning @Sepang scorcher



Pata @Honda #rider Michael van der Mark took his third win of the season and his second in succession in today’s sixth-round World Supersport championship race at Sepang in Malaysia, extending his championship lead to 33 points at the mid-point of the season.

With temperatures in the mid-30s, the 21-year-old Dutch flyer had a good start on his Honda CBR600RR from the front row of the grid. In the opening laps he kept pace with today’s other two podium finishers Kenan Sofuoglu and Jules Cluzel before taking the lead from Sofuoglu on the eighth lap.

Van der Mark opened a gap but it was bridged in the closing stages by Cluzel who took the lead on the last lap before running a little wide at Sepang’s final corner. The Pata Honda rider held a tighter line, however, and took victory with a winning margin of just 0.018s.

His team-mate Lorenzo Zanetti finished fifth in today’s 14-lap encounter at the 5.548 Sepang International Circuit, moving himself up to fourth place in the championship standings.

The Italian rider, 26, got a good start from row two and settled into the leading group but was just unable to maintain the pace of his Pata Honda team-mate in today’s sweltering conditions.



Michael van der Mark

It’s been a great weekend for my first visit to Malaysia – I love this track and I love this country! From the first practice we were quite fast and yesterday morning in FP3 we showed that we had a really good race pace. I qualified third and my start was quite good, although I braked a bit too early for turn one. I saw I could follow Sofuoglu and Cluzel and got into quite a safe rhythm but they were a bit slower so, after six or seven laps, I passed them and tried to go away. I had a gap of almost one second but the tyre was finished so I couldn’t push any harder and I didn’t want to take any risks. I heard Jules [Cluzel] and knew he would try to overtake me again. I was lucky in the last corner and held a really tight line. My exit wasn’t great but I just won on the finish line. I’m really thankful to the team because they didn’t have any experience here and we worked so fast, and the bike was great!





Lorenzo Zanetti

In the end it was a positive result for the championship. Of course, I’m not really happy because my target today – and in every race - was definitely the podium. All weekend I had a strange feeling on the bike but we found a good way forward yesterday. To match the pace of Mikey [van der Mark] and Cluzel was really difficult. Just in the first six or seven laps on the new tyre I pushed on the limit and stayed with the front group. But in the end I lost some rhythm and had to take the points for the championship.





Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator

It was hot today and we had another fantastic race with a group of five which included both Michael and Lorenzo. In the end Michael got into the lead and he managed to build a gap but his main rival, Cluzel, was closing in on him. In the last lap we had a big battle and Michael forced Cluzel into a mistake and he took a tiny lead to the finish. Another victory gives him a good lead in the championship and it’s going really well for him. In the end Lorenzo couldn’t maintain the pace because he pushed quite hard at the beginning and his tyres were finished. He has moved up in the championship though and I think at Misano we can expect a bit more from him.






Weather
Sunny Intervals


Air
32°C


Track
48°C


Humidity
71%






Race Results

1 Michael van der Mark 30m23.854s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
2 Jules Cluzel +0.018s FRA MV MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport
3 Kenan Sofuoglu +4.526s TUR KAWASAKI MAHI Racing Team India
4 Roberto Rolfo +4.651s ITA KAWASAKI Team GO Eleven
5 Lorenzo Zanetti +9.187s ITA HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
6 Ratthapark Wilairot +12.494s THA HONDA Core PTR Honda
7 Raffaele De Rosa +13.515s ITA HONDA Core PTR Honda
8 Patrick Jacobson +20.400s USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
9 Zaqhwan Zaidi +20.579s MAS HONDA SIC Racing Team
10 Marco Bussolotti +29.038s ITA HONDA Team Lorini


Championship Standings

1 Michael van der Mark 115 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
2 Jules Cluzel 82 pts FRA MV MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport
3 Florian Marino 76 pts FRA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
4 Lorenzo Zanetti 60 pts ITA HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
5 Kev Coghlan 60 pts GBR YAMAHA DMC Panavto-Yamaha
6 Kenan Sofuoglu 54 pts TUR KAWASAKI MAHI Racing Team India
7 Raffaele De Rosa 54 pts ITA HONDA Core PTR Honda
8 Roberto Rolfo 49 pts ITA KAWASAKI Team GO Eleven
9 Patrick Jacobson 40 pts USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
10 Roberto Tamburini 37 pts ITA KAWASAKI San Carlo Puccetti Racing