Magic Mike looks forward to bright future
After a never-ending series of overtaking moves (16 in 12 laps!), the 20-year-old from Gouda in Holland took the lead on the penultimate lap and won the title by 12 points. With this win van der Mark also becomes the most successful under-22 rider in eight years of European STK600 history with ten wins (and 13 podiums) out of 21 races.
"What a race, unbelievable!" exclaimed van der Mark. "It was a very difficult and very tough race and I decided to remain calm but that was very hard. The last lap was even harder because I had no idea how fare Russo was behind me. I really want to thank everyone who helped me in the past two years. My team, my family, my sponsors, my friends, absolutely everyone. Without all of you it wasn't possible to realize this title. Now it's time to party; it feels so great!"
Now that he has won the title, Magny-Cours was his final race in European Superstock 600: in 2013 in fact the Dutchman will race for the Pata Honda World Supersport Team in WSS with Lorenzo Zanetti, again under Ten Kate management.
