Round six of the 2015 World Superbike championship takes place this weekend (22-24 May) at Donington Park in the UK, with the Pata Honda pairing of Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark looking to make further progress on their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines.
For Guintoli, the Donington Park event is almost a ‘home’ round, despite having been born in Montélimar in France. The 32-year-old French rider lives with his English wife, Caroline, and four children less than 30 minutes’ drive from the 4.023km circuit, which lies adjacent to East Midlands airport near Derby.
The reigning WSBK champion, who holds sixth place in the current points standings, climbed the Donington Park podium in 2014 and, despite having not been able to return to the rostrum thus far this season, he has felt some positive progress following his transition to CBR machinery.
Guintoli’s Pata Honda team-mate, Michael van der Mark, took a double debut podium at his own home race at Assen in the Netherlands last month and is keen to taste the champagne once again this weekend with another top three result at Donington Park.
The 22-year-old World Superbike debutant enjoyed success at Donington Park last season, taking victory on his way to the 2014 World Supersport title on the 600cc version of his Honda CBR machine.
2015 World Superbike championship, round six
Donington Park, UK
Event schedule (local times GMT +1):
Friday 22 May
10:00-10:45 – Free practice 1 13:45-14:30 – Free practice 2 16:30-17:15 – Free practice 3
Saturday 23 May
09:30-10:00 – Free practice 4 12:00-12:15 – Superpole 1 12:25-12:40 – Superpole 2
Sunday 24 May
09:00-09:15 – Warm-up 12:00 – Race 1 (23 Laps, 92.529km) 15:00 – Race 2 (23 Laps, 92.529km)
Sylvain Guintoli
We managed to salvage something in race one at Imola and took some positives from that, but we were quite a bit off the pace and we still have some steps to make so I can ride the CBR the way I’d like. We’ve got some new things to try this weekend at Donington though, and it’s really good that the team is working so hard and responding so positively. I really like the Donington track, especially the fast rhythm of the first part and, although some other riders don’t like the back section, I see it as a couple of good overtaking opportunities and a lot of fun. I’ve had some good races at Donington in the past and it’s always nice to be racing at ‘home’ with my family close by. There will be a lot of friends coming to support this weekend so let’s hope we can put on a bit of a show for them.
Michael van der Mark
I really like the Donington Park circuit and I’m looking forward to going back there this weekend. I had a pretty good result there last year and I’m hoping it will suit the CBR a little better. The first part is really fast and free-flowing and a lot of fun, but we’ll have to work hard to get the bike working in the last part with the two hairpins. I’m still a rookie and still learning to ride a superbike but it would be good to get back to a position where we can fight for the podium on Sunday.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
The results at Imola were not what we were aiming for and, of course, the work has continued since we got back to the workshop. We have some chassis components to try this weekend to improve stability under heavy acceleration without compromising grip levels, and we’ve been testing a variety of electronics options on the dyno. We have also planned a meeting with the guys from Honda UK who had a British Superbike race at Donington recently. The track has produced mixed results for us in the past but that won’t stop the determination of everyone to get the CBR back on the podium.
