---
title: "Laverty ‘lucky to finish in one piece’ after race one smash"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/05/13/laverty-lucky-finish-one-piece-race-one-smash/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "SBK"
published: "2017-05-13T20:00:37Z"
modified: "2017-05-13T20:25:02Z"
---

# Laverty ‘lucky to finish in one piece’ after race one smash

Eugene Laverty says he was fortunate to come away from his monster race one tangle with Yamaha’s Alex Lowes in today’s first race ‘in one piece’.

The Milwaukee Aprilia rider was battling hard with Lowes over eighth place in the closing stages of the race when the pair collided. Lowes went for a move up the inside of the fast downhill right of Turn 17 with seven laps to go, the Briton’s foot making contact with the front mudguard of Laverty’s RSV4.

> Twitter: WHOA!!\
> Laverty’s bike goes up in flames as he suffers a nasty crash ![](https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/svg/1f631.svg)![](https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/svg/1f525.svg) #ItalianWorldSBK https://t.co/25swbArw6c (@Eurosport\_UK)

The contact dislodged the mudguard and severed the brake line, and with Turn 18 coming up fast Laverty had no choice but to bail. His Aprilia slammed into the concrete wall at the end of the gravel trap, bursting into flames in the process and bringing out the red flags.

“I had no brakes because the brake line came out when we bumped together,” explained the Northern Irishman, who thankfully walked away from the incident unscathed.

“I tried to pump the brakes a few times, then I realised there was nothing working and the wall was fast approaching, so it was time to get the hell out of there.

“It is good I got off when I did, and it feels like you’re accelerating when you’re used to decelerating there, so it was really fast. It wasn’t how I wanted to finish the race, that’s for sure, but I’m lucky to finish in one piece.

“I’ve given the guys some work to do tonight, unfortunately, so it’s been a tough old time for everyone involved. But we are going to try to regroup and work with the bike tomorrow.”

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/682663530.jpg)

Coming into the race, Laverty was fairly confident of a strong result after qualifying sixth on a bike he felt comfortable on. However, seven laps in, he started to lose grip from his rear tyre and he fell behind Leon Camier and Michael van der Mark.

Curiously, the lost grip came back halfway through the race, which allowed him to keep Lowes at bay prior to their accident. This is an issue Laverty hopes to find a resolution to for race two, as he believes he could have pushed harder than he was able to in today’s race.

“I was optimistic at the start, because the bike was feeling good,” he said.

“But I started losing pace after about seven laps and I was moving backwards. I tried hanging in, and just before the crash happened the bike started to feel good again.

“We didn’t have much rear grip today. It was good at the start and then went away, but then it came back in the middle of the race, which was strange.

“That’s something we need to look closely at. At time, I felt I could really push, but it was disappointing to see other guys coming past.”