Milwaukee Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty heads to Phillip Island ‘feeling confident’ after making a breakthrough with his RSV4-RF in Portimao at the weekend.
The ex-Aspar MotoGP rider and 2013 WorldSBK runner-up endured a torrid opening test of the year last week in Jerez. Laverty struggled to get the bike through the corners on the first day, while chatter woes and a collision with Randy Krummenacher at Turn 1 hindered his progress on the second day.
A further two days of testing followed at the Algarve in Portugal, where Laverty and his Milwaukee team managed to get the bike set-up just to his liking. The Northern Irishman improved by well over a second from Saturday to Sunday, curing his chatter woes in the process.
Twitter: Conditions staying strong for @eugenelaverty and Milwaukee Aprilia at @WorldSBK #PortimaoTest https://t.co/0GExwLtIXS (@SMRWorldSBK)
Laverty ended the test second overall on a 1m42.002s, trailing Ducati’s Chaz Davies by just over two tenths of a second. Happy with the progress made, he reckons the team can make further strides at the final pre-season test in Australia next month ahead of the opening round of the 2017 season.
“Today (Sunday) was a big improvement for us,” he said. “I made good progress yesterday but I was still having to fight the bike, whereas today I was able to do a lot of laps and really get it feeling like my bike again.
“I feel like I can race with it now, and I felt comfortable on the race and quali tyres. It’s been a very productive two days, much better than Jerez, and we made big breakthroughs to resolve the chatter I was having.
Twitter: @eugenelaverty out for some running at @WorldSBK #portimaotest https://t.co/Z01nQ2Q96k (@SMRWorldSBK)
“I’m feeling confident for Round 1 at Phillip Island, we have a good base to work from and the team is working really well together. It’s one of my favourite tracks to ride, and with another test there I think we’re in a good position to really move forward.”
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