­Van der Mark sixth after hard-fought battle

20-06-2011

Despite starting on the front row of the grid, Van der Mark could not get away with the leading group after some difficulties during the start and the first hundred meters.

However, the Dutchman fought his way past some other riders and was close to the podium positions. Unfortunately, after a very heavy block pass, Van der Mark had to start over again but there was no time left. At the end, the difference between the Ten Kate Junior Team rider and the third man on the podium, Belgium Gauthier Duwelz, was only 0.812 of a second.

Michael van der Mark (STK600): "Because of my fourth place in the second qualifying round I looked forward to the race. Unfortunately, my start wasn´t good at all and I was in eleventh position after the first corner. But in the first couple of laps I was able to pass some other riders although the guys battled for third place were just too far away. Standing on the podium was possible without my bad start. A real shame… From now on I will focus on my Moto2 wildcard!”