“It’s been a long time since I had a day like this to be honest,” the Dutch Honda rider told WorldSBK.com. “First crash of the year in Superpole and I was just a bit unlucky, I had a qualifying tyre in and opened a bit early and the front lifted. Then, when it hit the kerb I didn’t have any grip and I crashed.”

The Dutchman has made a habit of finishing races well this season, as well as having an excellent qualifying record so far in 2016. His first crash of the year however has made the challenge bigger for both races at MotorLand, but doesn’t tell the whole story.

“A really weird one and also an expensive one, because you know I have to start from 11^th on the grid,” said the 2014 WorldSSP Champion of his first crash of the day. “In the race, I had a good start and I passed a few people. I was close to Giugliano in the group so I was happy with that but from the first laps I didn’t have the grip I was used to with this tyre, so I struggled a lot in the first couple of laps and pushed on the front tyre.”

Van der Mark suffered his first DNF thereafter, putting a dent in his points tally but escaping unhurt and ready to bounce back tomorrow.

“In Turn 5 I pushed a bit too hard and lost the front so a real shame today because I know my pace and we could have done a really good job in this race, especially from 11^th place on the grid. So I´m really disappointed about today but for tomorrow I want to give the boys something to be proud of.”

Van der Mark has another chance to get his podium record back on track tomorrow as Race 2 begins at 1pm local time (GMT +2).