The Japanese Formula 3 champion started from pole position, but made a poor getaway and was passed off the line by his teammate Keisuke Kunimoto and eventual race winner Edoardo Mortara.
As the trio went three abreast into Mandarin, van Dam hit the barrier and punctured his left rear tyre. He then tangled with fellow Dutchman Renger van der Zande at the bottom of San Francisco Hill while on his way back to the pits and retired.
"The two guys who overtook me on the way to Mandarin lifted off the gas, which is normal, but I got stuck a bit," said van Dam. "There was no room, it was already too late to make the corner and I got on the dirt. I hit the wall and got a puncture on the left.
"Then the only thing I tried to do was bring the car back to the pits, but unfortunately van der Zande came so close to me and because of the puncture the car was weaving everywhere. We hit which was really unfortunate.
"Even if you come back to the pits and put a new tyre on, you may be able to move up because of other guys not finishing. Maybe then there would still be the chance of a podium tomorrow, now it is very disappointing. I'm very sorry it happened. I tried to keep it cool because the only aim we had for today was to be in the top four, but we didn't succeed."
But having proved his potential pace with his pole position lap yesterday, van Dam is determined to have a strong race tomorrow - even though he will have to start near the back.
"On the one hand you hope for some accidents that you can gain from, but on the other hand you want to race as much as possible - so not too many safety cars.
"We have the speed, but we will just be open minded approaching the race, I will do my best - even though I am not sure what position I start from. If we have the speed and we can race 15 laps, I still hope to get to the top five.
"I want to show the team tomorrow that I haven't come here for nothing."
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