Sunday’s dramatic race at the Lausitzring challenged the whole WorldSBK field but Honda World Superbike Team’s Michael van der Mark proved once again his resilience and determination after chaos struck.

The race start was delayed by almost an hour as rains lashed out at the circuit. But once racing got underway it was all or nothing regardless of the conditions. “When it was time to race, race direction decided it was better to wait given the amount of rain that was falling,” Said Van der Mark. “It was the right decision as there was basically no visibility at all. After a couple of laps, I saw Giugliano crashing out of the race and I immediately thought about the championship situation, because the priority was to stay upright.“

Nonetheless, van der Mark pushed on to maintain his position and as the race reached its halfway point he had managed to fight his way into sixth. With three laps to go the young Dutchman took a heavy tumble at turn nine, battering his Honda Fireblade, but that didn’t stop him. With determination similar to that in Laguna Seca, he got back up in an impressive push to the line to collect eight important Championship points in eighth position.

“I got a good start to the race but the track was very slippery and I couldn’t lean as much as I wanted,” Recalled van der Mark.  “Then, with three laps to go I simply locked the front and crashed. I really wanted to finish the race so I picked up the bike and rode two laps with barely any front brake. These are very important points for me, so all in all I’m not too disappointed.”

Impressing not only the fans, Pieter Breddels, Honda World Superbike Team Manager commented on the Dutchman’s efforts, exclaiming, “Michael had a good start and was running his own race. Eighth was not the result he was aiming for, but hats off to him for picking the bike up and riding it to the finish line. His last lap wasn’t even that bad considering the damage!”

Check the crash out for yourself and relive the Flying Dutchman’s impressive performance at the Lausitzring.