Nicky Hayden Gets 1st WSBK Championship Win in Sepang Race 2

Race Report

15 May 2016 WorldSBK 2016 Superb maiden WorldSBK win for Hayden in race two at Sepang Round 6 – Malaysia Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia     Nicky Hayden came out on top in today’s race two at Sepang International Circuit to claim a spectacular maiden race win, in what was only his sixth FIM Superbike World Championship round as full-time rider in the series. Michael van der Mark completed the Malaysian event with a sixth place finish. Hayden’s impressive performance in race two marks the return of Honda to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2014, when Jonathan Rea was victorious in race two at Portimão. Hayden got a great launch from fourth place on the grid and immediately set his sights on the lead, which he was able to take before the completion of the first lap. From then on, the 34-year-old never looked back and continued to master his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP perfectly around the wet 5.543 Km Sepang International Circuit. By lap eleven of sixteen Hayden had a four-second margin over second place, which he carefully managed up to the chequered flag in spite of a quick drop of grip as the track was drying out. Michael van der Mark’s performance was hindered by his poor starting position, although the young Dutchman was able to make up several places in the early laps courtesy of a great feeling with his bike in full-wet conditions. As soon as the track started to get drier, though, the 2014 World Supersport Champion began to experience some grip issues that did not allow him to stay with the front-runners.     Nicky Hayden 69 1st I’m really happy for this win. Last night I was so frustrated that my crew chief asked me if I was OK and told me not to give up. I told him not to worry, and that I was just a bit of a sore loser. This morning in the dry we had good pace and great potential. When it started raining I knew I had to go for it: I’m definitely not in the championship fight and that meant I could risk a bit more. In the first laps I took some chances to get to the front and I didn’t want to get caught up racing in a pack like in Assen. I wanted to be at the front with clear visibility. As I got to the front the bike worked so well because the team knows the bike inside out and the set-up was perfect. I tried to stay as comfortable as possible while in the lead because we weren’t sure of tyre durability on this track with the new asphalt. I managed to pull a gap and definitely in the end wasn’t easy, because those guys were coming for me. I was able to hold on to the lead and get my first win in a long time. It’s been a few dry years but I never stopped trying; to get a win at this point in my career in Superbike is truly amazing. - Honda WorldSBK Michael van der Mark 60 6th In the warm up this morning we tried something different again but it didn’t really work out. Before the race I didn’t know what to expect and I think the rain came a bit like a gift for us. My start wasn’t so good and I got pushed wide at the first turn, but I immediately got a good feeling in full-wet conditions and was able to bridge the gap to the front. As soon as the track started to dry out, I started struggling with the grip and couldn’t brake as hard as I wanted to. I’m really disappointed because the result could have been much better and I feel we were still missing something. I’m really happy for Nicky and his first win; we on the other hand have to find that competitive set-up again, the one that allowed us to do so well in Australia and Thailand. I’m pretty sure we will be back at the front in Donington. - Honda WorldSBK Pieter Breddels Technical Manager Nicky simply put together the perfect race today. The rain didn’t catch us unprepared, because we had already a good set-up for the wet from day one at Assen. He got a great start and was able to get a 3-4 second margin that he managed right to the end, despite a great comeback by Giugliano. Nicky was able to counter attack whenever he saw that the gap was closing too much. So, it was a victory after a long time both for him and us, and we’re over the moon. We hope that this is only the beginning. Michael was doing well at the beginning of the race but unfortunately, with the track drying up he had a severe drop of grip. He did well to hold on to sixth and I’m confident that the next round he will fight for more. - Honda WorldSBK     Click here to view full results & standing     Gallery Copyright free images for editorial use.                  Media Contact Valerio Piccini E-mail: valerio.piccini@redwing.media

Nicky Hayden Heads to WSBK Championship for 2016 Season with Ten Kate Honda

Honda announces 2016 World Superbike riders Honda has today confirmed the team that will spearhead its campaign in the 2016 World Superbike championship on the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP. Current rider Michael van der Mark will be joined in the team by former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden. Hayden has been riding in MotoGP since 2003 when he joined the Repsol Honda team and the 34-year-old American has since gone on to start more than 200 Grands Prix, scoring 28 podiums and taking three wins. He won the MotoGP title with Honda in 2006. His strong flat-track racing pedigree, which began at the age of three, eventually led him into road-racing and the young Hayden turned professional on his 16th birthday, halfway through the 1997 season. He won the AMA Supersport series with Honda two years later before turning to AMA Superbike in 2000. He became the youngest ever AMA Superbike champion, taking Honda’s VTR1000SP (RC51) to victory in 2002 at the age of 21. Hayden is relishing a return to his superbike roots in 2016 and to continuing his racing career with Honda in the production-based World Superbike championship. Ultimate success in the series would make him the first rider to win both MotoGP and WSBK titles. He will team up for 2016 with Michael van der Mark, one of the most exciting and talented young riders in the series. The 22-year-old Dutch flyer has followed Honda’s rider development programme in winning both the 2012 European Superstock 600 series and last year’s World Supersport championship on Honda’s CBR600RR. Van der Mark won back-to-back Suzuka 8 Hours races in Japan in 2013 and 2014 and has scored three podiums to date in his rookie World Superbike season on the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP with the final round coming up in Qatar on 18 October. The team will begin testing for the 2016 World Superbike championship season in November with two scheduled tests in Spain which will be Hayden’s first opportunity to familiarise himself with his new Honda CBR Fireblade. Nicky Hayden Well, my next stop is Superbike with Honda! I’m very excited, obviously, to stick with Honda; it’s where I’ve had the most success in my career. World Superbikes is a championship that I followed closely as a kid when a lot of American riders were fighting at the front. It just seems like the right time and the right team to go with. I know I’ve got a lot to learn and it’s going to be a big challenge, but also I’m very motivated to start and learn what I can. I’d like to say thanks to everyone who has supported me through my MotoGP career. We had a good run but now it’s time to move on and try something different. Michael van der Mark I’m really looking forward to 2016 already! This season we have made a lot of progress with the CBR and I think that taking my experience on the bike from every track will be a very good base to start from. We’ve really improved the bike even more over the last couple of rounds and that has put us close to the front, which is what we’ve been aiming for throughout the year. The next target of course is a victory but I think that in my second season on the CBR I can be confident that we can make some more podiums and fight for wins. I’m happy to hear that Nicky will be my team-mate next year and I think we’ll be able to learn a lot from each other during the season. Marco Chini – WSBK Operations Manager, Honda We are of course delighted to announce that Nicky Hayden will be Michael’s team-mate on Honda’s CBR Fireblade machine in the 2016 World Superbike championship. The team has worked really hard this season, continuing the development of the bike together with Cosworth’s electronics and we are really happy that this endeavor has translated into strong performances from both riders, particularly in the last few races. These results have demonstrated the great potential that remains in the CBR and I’m happy that they may have influenced Nicky’s decision to join our programme. We are confident that the wide experience he has gained at the highest level of our sport can help the squad to continue the development, the momentum and the team-work that has been established this season and translate that into further positive results. Ronald ten Kate – team manager It’s well known that, at Ten Kate, we always have been and always will be Honda. There is only be one person in the world who could possibly be more Honda than us, and that’s Nicky Hayden! That’s why I’m absolutely delighted that he’ll be joining us for next season. He was AMA Superbike champion with Honda and we’re really looking forward to bringing him back to his superbike roots. By working together and using all our combined resources, I hope that in the future we can make him the first world champion in MotoGP and World Superbike. We are also looking forward to combining Nicky’s experience with young Michael, who has shown really good pace and huge potential on the CBR in his first season. I think you can safely say that I’m more than happy with the line-up we have for 2016! All information © Honda Racing 2015 For more copyright-free media please visit media.hondaproracing.com or email media@hondaproracing.com

Team Pata Honda Suffers 2 Top-10s and 2 DNFs at Motorland Aragon World Superbike Round

Motorland Aragon - Spain    12.04.2015                 Tough day in the office for Pata Honda duo The third-round of the World Superbike championship this weekend has been a challenging outing for Michael van der Mark and Sylvain Guintoli at Aragon, Spain.   Over the weekend the team strived to improve and find the optimum setting for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP around the 5.077km circuit.   In the first of two 18-lap races, van der Mark was forced to retire due to a small technical problem on the tenth lap. The second race saw the SBK rookie make a gallant attack moving up from his starting grid position in 11th to sixth place, but on the last lap had to settle with eighth.   Meanwhile van der Mark’s teammate Sylvain Guintoli finished race one within the top-ten taking ninth place after making his way forward from his qualifying position in 14th. During the second installment he had made his way up to tenth but crashed out of the running on the sixth lap after loosing the front.   The team will now take and analyse all the data collected from each session this weekend in preparation for its home race at Assen, the Netherlands next weekend 17-19 April.  Michael van der Mark  - DNF     8th I felt quite confident going into race one today, but I knew I had some work to do starting from 11th. My lap times were getting better and better and I was improving on each lap, but unfortunately we had a small technical problem, which meant I had to finish the race early. Race two was better, I managed to get up to speed quickly and move further forward towards the front. I’m happy to leave here with some points and we now have some work to do before Assen next weekend, where I hope we have some better results.  Sylvain Guintoli  - 9th     DNF This weekend we have been working hard to find the right settings for the Fireblade around this circuit, which hasn’t been easy. I think in race two I could have challenged for sixth position but I got a little hungry and lost the front, which resulted in me crashing out unfortunately. It’s not normally something that happens to me, but sometimes it does and you have to learn from it. The guys have collected a lot of data from this round and will be working towards finding solutions for Michael and myself to get the results we all want.  Pieter Breddels Aragon has been a bit of a challenge for us as we have tried to find the optimum setting for the CBR1000RR and we knew that both races would be difficult. In race one Sylvain got off to a good start immediately going into the top-ten and finished the race ninth. Michael recovered his start well and was building good momentum and producing lap times that could match the guys in front of him. Unfortunately after ten-laps he had a small technical issue with the bike, which forced him out of the race. In race two Sylvain had a crash after loosing the front, which ended his weekend. For Michael it was a lot better, he fought all throughout the race to get into sixth position but on the very last lap had to settle for eighth. Both riders rode well all weekend but there is a gap at the front, which we now have to go back and an alyse and think how we can close this, and get closer to the action.  Weather Sunny Intervals Air 12°C Track 18°C Humidity 75%   Race 1 Results   1   Jonathan Rea 33m.36.937s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 2   Chaz Davies +0.051s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 3   Tom Sykes +4.977s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 4   Leon Haslam +15.088s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 5   Jordi Torres +15.290s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 6   Xavi Fores +16.655s ESP DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 7   Nicolas Terol +17.365s ESP DUCATI Althea Racing 8   Leandro Mercado +25.527s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team 9   Sylvain Guintoli +31.464s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 10   Leon Camier +43.013s GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse Weather Sunny Air 18°C Track 32°C Humidity 48%   Race 2 Results   1   Chaz Davies 33m34.699s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 2   Jonathan Rea +3.190s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 3   Leon Haslam +3.712s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 4   Jordi Torres +14.216s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 5   Xavi Fores +20.524s ESP DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 6   David Salom +25.878s ESP KAWASAKI Team Pedercini 7   Leandro Mercado +25.939s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team 8   Michael van der Mark +26.075s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 9   Ayrton Badovini +27.253s ITA BMW JR Racing Team 10   Nicolas Terol +28.666s ESP DUCATI Althea Racing   Championship Standings   1   Jonathan Rea 140 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 2   Leon Haslam 114 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 3   Chaz Davies 83 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 4   Tom Sykes 66 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 5   Jordi Torres 63 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 6   Sylvain Guintoli 48 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 7   Nicolas Terol 41 pts ESP DUCATI Althea Racing 8   Matteo Baiocco 39 pts ITA DUCATI Althea Racing 9   Leandro Mercado 38 pts ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team 10   Alex Lowes 34 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 11   Michael van der Mark 28 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team   Copyright-free images for editorial use only © 2015 Pata Honda.