WSB: Positive test for Honda riders at Lausitzring

Honda’s World Superbike duo enjoyed a positive two-day test at the Lausitring this week, with Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden cutting over 100 laps of the German circuit before the WSB series resumes there next month.

Testing alongside the PATA Yamaha team, the Honda duo spent the two days learning the 4.255km track on their Fireblades, with Hayden having never ridden at the circuit before and van der Mark having not been there since he rode a 125cc machine in 2010. 

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“It has been a good couple of days here at Lausitzring,” said Hayden. “On Thursday we kept making some good progress, although on the second day it’s always a bit more difficult to keep improving. We hit a few walls today but overall I was able to make some steps forward. The team worked really hard and I’m thankful that they came here for this test during the summer break. We needed these two days, especially on a track where we still have to race. It took me some laps to readjust to this version of the Fireblade after riding the endurance one but now we’re ready. Obviously we don’t know where we’ll stack up until we come back here for the race, but I’m sure we’ll find out really quick where we fall in line. Now I look forward to race in Germany.” 

Van der Mark added: “The test was really good for us and a very useful one, because it has been a long time since I last came here – 2010 I think. We did a lot of laps – 119 today alone – but we were also able to gather some good information. Today we tried a couple of things that worked out really well and in the end we were able to improve the bike quite a lot. I’m really happy because we were not only fast but also very consistent on the long run; of course there is still room for improvement but we have a really good base to start with, so I cannot wait for the German round to start.”

Kawasaki Racing duo Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea were present at the test, but riding ZX-10R road bikes. 

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