Michael van der Mark finished fourth in today’s final round of the 2013 World Supersport championship season, securing fourth place in the overall standings in his rookie year.

His Pata Honda team-mate Lorenzo Zanetti had a relatively lonely ride to fifth place, and fifth in the points table, as world champion Sam Lowes took the final race win of the year.

Dutch flyer van der Mark took three podium finishes in his debut World Supersport campaign, while Zanetti finished on the rostrum at Monza in May. Both are enthusiastic about the forthcoming 2014 championship year which begins with a private test at Jerez on Tuesday.

Michael van der Mark - 4th

It was quite difficult today because it took us a while to find the right set-up for Jerez. My start wasn’t that great and I had to pass some other guys but my pace was OK. I had to catch Rolfo but he was doing really good lap times and we were quite similar. Three laps from the end I was on his rear wheel and tried to push to get even closer but I pushed a little too much and lost the front a few times. I’m happy with fourth place in the race and in the championship. The season has gone really quickly and I can’t wait for the next one to begin!

Lorenzo Zanetti - 5th

Fifth place is not bad but I lost a lot of time in the first three laps trying to get past Russo. When I did that, the group with Michael had gone and I needed to be there to fight for the podium. Also, towards the end of the race my rear grip dropped off and this has been a problem. I spent the rest of the race alone, which wasn’t positive. However, the season has been positive and my feeling with the bike has improved so I think we can look forward to the next season with a lot of confidence.

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

Michael had a race-long battle for third but the grip dropped in the last few laps which prevented him attacking for the podium. Fourth was good, though, and he finished fourth in the series in his rookie season, so we’re happy with that. He was 10 points short of third overall but I’m sure he can fight for that and more next year. Lorenzo couldn’t quite get to the pace of Michael and couldn’t get better than fifth. But he has also had a good rookie season and I think we can be satisfied with both our riders’ performances this year.