Pata Yamaha’s Michael Van Der Mark limped home for a single point in today’s opening WorldSBK race at the Lausitzring after a flat tyre halted any chance of a top-ten result in Germany.
The Dutchman had fought his way through qualifying one to start from 11th place, quickly converted to eighth in the opening laps. Van Der Mark then ran off track which undid all the good work and a slowly-deflating rear Pirelli, the reasons for which are under investigation, put paid to more points for the youngster.
"To be honest I was happy with the way I made it out of SP1 into SP2. I went more than a second faster on my race tyre in SP1 than I had done so far, but in SP2 on the qualifying tyre, I didn't have a great feeling. I think the rear was pushing the front, so I had to start from 11th on the grid. During the race, I had a good start but I started to struggle with the grip right from the early stages,” said Van Der Mark.
“I then made a mistake, although I am not sure what really happened, I ran off track and then had to fight my way through the field. To be honest, while my pace was not fantastic, it was better than in practice. I just focused on maintaining this pace, but then I started to get slower and slower and the bike was moving around a lot.
“I just finished the race as every point is vital in this championship, but when I got back to parc fermé I realised I had a completely flat tyre. We obviously have to find out how this happened, which we will work on tonight, and I will give my best again in Race 2 tomorrow."
