WORLD SUPERBIKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 3/APRIL 27, 2014
CIRCUIT VAN DRENTHE/ASSEN, HOLLAND
P80
YOUNG DUTCH MASTER
If the World Superbike races were
chaotic and interrupted then the
World Supersport race at Assen, all
18 planned laps of it, was a joy to
behold for the locals. Track condi-
tions allowed their new hero, Michal
van Der Mark and his Pata Honda
to take his first-ever win and he did
it like he had been winning all his
young 21-year-old life, running away
and taking a final advantage of 9.494
seconds at the flag.
"I could not find a better place to
take my first win than my home race,"
van Der Mark said. "All weekend the
team worked well and the bike worked
great. My start was not really perfect,
but when I was with Florian [Marino]
and Kenan [Sofuoglu] I could see that
I was faster. So as soon as I passed
them I kept pushing all race long
because I did not want to make any
mistakes. I am really thankful to the
team, sponsors and friends and fans
who came here. I am also thankful to
the Clinica Mobile because last night
I was really sick, but this morning they
have helped me a lot."
He would have had the tough and
tenacious Kenan Sofuoglu to deal with
on most weekends but the three-time
champion had a technical problem
that caused him to run on at one stage
of the race, and drop several places
as a result. Finally he was forced out
with an unspecified technical problem
on lap 13.
The top Kawasaki rider proved to
be Florian Marino, who ended up
second after his shadow Sofuoglu had
exited. Marino is the new champion-
ship leader as he pushes his way back
into favor in the World Supersport
class.
"I took pole position yesterday and I
tried my best to follow the race winner,
but it was just not possible," Marino
said. "I am happy with the steps we
have made compared to Aragon
because we were faster than we have
been recently. It is all moving on well
so I am really happy and looking for-
ward to a strong season."
Third in the Assen race was the MV
Tom Sykes (1) came
away from Assen with
a 12-point lead in the
championship. His
teammate Loris Baz
earned his first-career
World Superbike pole on
Saturday.
