Van der Mark heading East in confident mood

In the 2013 FIM Supersport World Championship Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) will be heading to the 11th round of the year, at the new venue of Istanbul Park, aiming for more top three finishes in what has been an eventful rookie season. Having scored two early podium finishes van der Mark has taken himself to fourth in the rankings with three rounds remaining. Although he has never seen the Istanbul Park circuit close up he is confident that after a good practice and qualifying period he can stay in contention for a top finish at the 5.340km track.

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team)

"At the previous round I was not happy to have to come from so far back on the starting grid but I must be really happy in another way because our race pace was really good. The main thing we have to work on is to make better performances in qualifying. I think that has a bit to do with myself but also there are some new changes on the bike, which should also help. Our pace is always good for top five so I have to be starting from somewhere on the front two rows. We have had a lot of races already this year, including the Suzuka 8-Hours, so now there are only three races to go! It cannot be seen as a bad season so far but I am just a little bit disappointed because I got on the podium in the first two rounds but when you start at that level you always want to be back there each time. We have to forget those first two and start again to get more podiums from now on.”