Michael Van Der Mark: "We need to find out why I don’t have the right speed"

No higher than ninth in any of the three races at Donington Park, Michael Van Der Mark suffered a difficult WorldSBK round for the second time in succession. 

Made worse by team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu winning all three races, Van Der Mark admits his speed is not where it should be.

Speaking after Sunday's Race 2, Van Der Mark said: “For today, we changed quite a lot on the bike compared to yesterday and this morning, I was feeling alright so we were ready for the race. 

"In the Superpole race, I had an okay start but I just did not have the right pace to fight with the other guys. 

"It was a shame to lose the sixth position on the grid for race two, but anyway, starting from 11th, I had a good start but on the first laps I was a bit in trouble with the other riders. 

"Then I had an okay pace but I wasn’t fast enough. It was hard to fight with other riders, I could not really catch the group in front of me. 

"In the end, I had a nice battle but fighting for P11 is not where we want to be. 

"We need to find out why I don’t have the right speed at the moment. Let’s analyse and be ready for the next weekend at Most.”

Like Van Der Mark, another BMW rider who struggled compared to his team-mate was Garrett Gerloff.

Scott Redding battled for the podium in all three races while the American could do no better than P13.

“For sure, this weekend has been a tough one. I came here with high expectations and the results we have seen here have shown what the bike is capable of," admitted Gerloff. 

"Congrats to Toprak to his wins and to Scott on his strong results, but for whatever reason we could not bring it together for me. 

"We worked hard and tried a lot but the field is so close that even with a really strong pace and good feeling in qualifying I had to settle with 12th on the grid. 

"From there, it is not easy to get strong race results. I am disappointed because more would have been possible. 

"But we keep our heads down, regroup and get ready for Most, where the goal is to turn the page.”