VAN DER MARK'S HONDA CBR600RR
RACER TEST
P50
by racier models from Yamaha
and Kawasaki. But not anymore
with the team doing the double
again with a Honda Riders/
Manufacturers title made ever
sweeter by producing the first
World Champion from Holland
in 40 years - 21-year old Michael
van der Mark.
Going into the 11th and final
round in Qatar, van der Mark
has won five of the 10 races held
so far (with teammate Lorenzo
Zanetti winning one), and hasn't
finished off the rostrum since he
DNF'd in the five-lap dash that ul-
timately comprised the first race
at Phillip Island.
Our chance to throw a leg over
the bike came at Assen – just 25
miles from the team's headquar-
ters in Nieuwleusen – and gave an
insight into just how Ten Kate suc-
ceeded in regaining the compa-
ny's prized supremacy in the class
it invented almost 30 years ago.
It was immediately obvious
on my out lap on Magic Mikey's
tricked-out title-winner that he
has the throttle response set up
very aggressively for strong ini-
tial pickup out of turns - not only
in first gear but also in second
and third. This took me a while
to adjust to in a tight corner like
the Strubben hairpin. That's
where I'd shoot past my apex as
I opened the throttle gently to be
ready to fire the little Honda out
of the first-gear left-hander. Oops
– back off, pull it back on line,
and resume normal service.
The best way to counter this
there was actually to use a long-
forgotten two-stroke technique
and clutch it gently, just feeding
the power in as appropriate until
I'd got my track bearings. But in
faster corners than that one the
way the Honda jumped out of the
turn was really explosive – in fact,
I was happy to have the softer en-
gine map of the two available for
the rider to choose from at the
end of a race on worn tires.
The immaculate Ten Kate Honda
CBR600RR that Michael van
der Mark rode to the 2014 World
Supersport title.
