MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy – Michael van der Mark ended Friday’s World Superbike practice at the top of the speed charts at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, but it wasn’t all good news for the Dutchman.
Despite leading the session with a best lap of 1:36.021, van der Mark crashed in the final moments of the session as he was exiting the final corner of the track.
He was quickly tended to by track medical staff, who took him to the medical center where he was diagnosed with multiple injuries, including polytrauma, a concussion and fractures to his right wrist and ribs.
As a result, the Yamaha rider will sit out the remainder of the weekend. He will also be forced to undergo surgery on his wrist at a later date as a result of the crash.
?? (1/2) @mickeyvdmark will miss the remainder of the Misano #WorldSBK weekend. The @PataYamahaWSBK rider fractured the trapezium and radius in his right wrist in his FP2 crash. The radius fracture will require surgery.#YamahaRacing | #WeR1 | #RiminiWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/ww1DExsJ0q
— Yamaha Racing (@yamaharacingcom) June 21, 2019
Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea ended the day second fastest on the speed charts, .008 of a second off the time set by van der Mark. Rea also crashed during the practice session, but was uninjured.
Ducati’s Álvaro Bautista was third fastest on Friday, followed closely by Sandro Cortese and Alex Lowes.