Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 4, 2014 P51 This strong pickup is the entry card to the Honda's really impres- sive midrange, with a strong pull from 8000 rpm upwards before the bright red junior searchlight on top of the dash (this is the first Ten Kate Honda Supersport bike out of the nine I've ridden so far that has such an item!) flashed at me from 15,800 rpm upwards to tell me to hit a higher gear on the clean-action race-pattern power- shifter. This is, however, devoid of the auto-blipper you take for granted on a world-level four- stroke these days, but with a ca- ble throttle and no Ride By Wire that's a luxury denied Honda Su- persport riders, even if their Ya- maha and MV Agusta rivals can profit from having one. Still, that's a mile-wide spread of usable power, making the Honda a joy to ride hard. Top-end >>MAGIC MIKEY Michael van der Mark, aka Magic Mikey, is undoubtedly the next big thing in World Superbike racing, a class he's step- ping up to next season with Ten Kate Racing. He does so after not only winning the 2014 World Supersport title in just his second season in the class, but also showing he knows how to ride a 230 hp one-liter behemoth by winning the only two Superbike races he's ever competed in. The fact that these were the 2013 and 2014 Suzuka 8-Hour mara- thons on Honda's home turf makes him Honda's new favored son. Van der Mark's tra- jectory into world-class motorcycle racing began in 2005 at the age of 12 when his truck driver father Henk took him to a quiet industrial estate near the family's home in the Netherlands' cheese capi- tal of Gouda to try out the Aprilia RS125R streetbike he'd just bought for him to compete in the Aprilia Ju- nior Cup series that year. It was just one week before his first race on it, and van der Mark had never ridden a motorcycle before – just a twist-n-go moped. But the fact that Henk van der Mark was a top Endurance racer in the 1980s meant that road rac- ing was in Michael's blood. Only one thing wrong - after reaching the end of his first straight-line run, shifting gears for the first time and with Henk follow- ing in the family car, the then-diminutive Michael found he was too small to reach the ground with his feet, and gently toppled over together with his bike. "He's grown a bit since then," jokes dad, Henk, "plus it didn't take long to see he was faster than me. But for him to win the Suzuka 8-Hours – twice, too – was a dream come true for a family like ours which has been involved in endurance racing for so many years." Van der Mark's debut season saw him finish fourth in that Aprilia Junior Cup Championship in 2005, and runner-up in the series the following year, before switching to the Dutch Open Cham- pionship in 2007 on a Honda RS125R GP racer. There he again finished runner-up in the series and was proclaimed Rookie of the Year, going one better the following season to win the Dutch Open title, while gaining invaluable experi- ence racing as a wild card in the German and Span- ish Championships. He also made his Grand Prix debut, finishing 26th at Assen as a wild card in the 125cc GP Dutch TT. In 2009 van der Mark won the Dutch Open 125cc GP title for a second succes- sive year, as well as plac- ing fifth in the German IDM series and an improved 18th in his home GP. A full-time Grand Prix season beckoned for 2010, but lack of funds led to van der Mark's team pulling out of racing 125cc GP before the end of the year, lead- ing him to switch cham- pionships by securing a one-off ride with Ten Kate Racing in the final round of the European Super- stock 600 championship at Magny-Cours. Van der Mark finished seventh in that debut race – his first on a four-stroke - secur- ing a full-time ride for the following season when he was third overall in the 2011 Superstock 600 Championship, with four wins from the 10 races, fin- ishing just 11 points behind the title-winner. In 2012, van der Mark won a hard-fought 2012 European Superstock 600 championship title at the age of just 19, taking the title in a winner-take-all final race at Magny-Cours, continued on page 55

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