Van Der Mark: Sixth isn’t that bad but it wasn’t a really good Sunday

A Superpole race crash for home favourite Michael Van Der Mark saw the BMW rider miss out on a potential race two WorldSBK podium at Assen. 

Van Der Mark’ best result of the weekend came in race one as he finished fourth, before claiming sixth in Sunday’s second feature race. 

Although Van Der Mark produced a brilliant ride from last to sixth, a first lap highside in the Superpole race made it a ‘bad Sunday’ in the former Yamaha rider’s eyes. 

Given his pace during the middle and latter part of race two, it’s concievable that a podium challenge would have been possible had he started higher up. 

Van Der Mark summed up his day by saying: "I had an okay start, I was feeling really good on the bike and I was starting to pass some people. In one of the fastest corners, I was pushing it harder. I tried to go even faster and had a big highside. 

"Unfortunately I crashed out but it was totally my mistake. We lost some good laps there. Race 2, starting from 11th, I had an okay start and I was a bit lucky at Turn 1. I ended up after Lap 1 in fifth position. 

"To be honest, we took the SC0 tyre because the temperature was a bit lower than Saturday. 

"We weren’t sure whether the new tyre would do the full distance. I struggled a little bit with grip. 

"It was quite a tough and long race, especially the last few laps. I had some nice battles with Tom [Sykes]. 

"I managed to catch Rinaldi and Lowes as well. To finish sixth isn’t that bad but it wasn’t a really good Sunday."