Van der Mark fourth in Spanish finale

Michael van der Mark finished fourth in today’s final round of the 2013 World Supersport championship season, securing fourth place in the overall standings in his rookie year.

Dutch flyer van der Mark took three podium finishes in his debut World Supersport campaign and is enthusiastic about the forthcoming 2014 championship year which begins with a private test at Jerez on Tuesday.

Michael van der Mark - 4th

It was quite difficult today because it took us a while to find the right set-up for Jerez. My start wasn’t that great and I had to pass some other guys but my pace was OK. I had to catch Rolfo but he was doing really good lap times and we were quite similar. Three laps from the end I was on his rear wheel and tried to push to get even closer but I pushed a little too much and lost the front a few times. I’m happy with fourth place in the race and in the championship. The season has gone really quickly and I can’t wait for the next one to begin!

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

Michael had a race-long battle for third but the grip dropped in the last few laps which prevented him attacking for the podium. Fourth was good, though, and he finished fourth in the series in his rookie season, so we’re happy with that. He was 10 points short of third overall but I’m sure he can fight for that and more next year.