Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti finished in sixth and seventh places respectively in Sunday’s World Supersport race at Magny-Cours in France. It was the penultimate race of the season in which Sam Lowes confirmed his 2013 series victory by finishing in second place behind Kenan Sofuoglu.
Starting from eighth place on the grid for the 23-lap race around the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit, van der Mark got a good start. However, his rear grip levels dropped in the second half of the race and the 20-year-old from the Netherlands was forced to concede position.
His Italian team-mate, Zanetti, suffered similar problems, citing an erroneous rear tyre choice. Having started one place in front of van der Mark, the 26-year-old ended the race one place behind, in spite of a crash just before the red flags were waved to stop the race two laps early.
Michael van der Mark – sixth
The start was not too bad and I was able to pass some people. The front three had good pace but I couldn’t pass Tamburini early in the race. When I passed him, I got into a good rhythm but the tyre started to drop and I got slower. I couldn’t match my normal lap times but when two guys passed me I could follow them. Then I got some pace back, but I’m a little bit disappointed. With some more grip I could for sure have been closer to the front.
Lorenzo Zanetti – seventh
I think our choice of tyre was not correct because, although I was able to pass some riders in the first five laps, I tried to follow the first three riders. In the space of two laps, the tyre changed completely and started to move a lot. I think we had the potential to stay with the front group today but instead we were in the second group, which is disappointing. But this is racing and it’s important that we keep learning for next season.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
Because of all the rain during the practice and qualifying we were a little unsure about tyre choice. In the race, the grip levels dropped quite a bit and both riders struggled with that and couldn’t do any more.
2013 World Supersport championship, round 12
Magny-Cours, France – 4.411, 20 laps
Race result:
1 Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Kawaskai2 Sam Lowes (GBR) Yamaha3 Christian Iddon (GBR) MV Agusta4 Fabien Foret (FRA) Kawasaki5 Sheridan Morais (RSA) Honda6 Michael van der Mark (NED) Pata Honda7 Lorenzo Zanetti (ITA) Pata Honda
Championship points after 12 of 13 rounds:
1 Lowes 225 (World Champion), 2 Sofuoglu 181, 3 Foret 134, 4 van der Mark 117, 5 Zanetti 108, 6 Jack Kennedy (IRL) Honda.
Final round: Jerez, Spain – 18-20 October
