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Change of set-up brings Laverty back near the top

Wednesday, 11 July 2012 08:38 GMT
Change of set-up brings Laverty back near the top

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) started the season as one of the favourites to post a top three in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship overall. Fast from the first moment that he tested the Aprilia machine at Portimao last winter, his early results were good but not great, until two podiums at Assen and Monza put him back into the groove again. From then on things started to go wrong, as one key element on the electronics package of his bike started to play up, and his ‘home' round at Donington was nothing like he had hoped, with a DNF and a 15th place overall.


"The big change was between Monza and Donington," he explained to WorldSBK.com. "We left Monza knowing we were in a position to move forward in the championship race and it was a big shock that lasted for three rounds. I really could not get out of turns. When we went to the Aragon tests to have a reference - same track we tested at in March - it was clear that something was wrong with the bike after just two or three laps. We put our heads together and it took all of five or ten minutes to find out what the problems was, which was frustrating in a way. I went back out again and it was back to business, so I could have left the test after three laps. The bike had thought it was wheelying all the time, a similar problem to what we had in Donington race one, even though that was an extreme case of it. It was cutting power before the bike was wheelying, which then in turn created more wheelie. It had been such a big problem it had been losing me 0.75 or a second a lap, and you cannot give that away to your rivals in SBK, especially when Max Biaggi is your team-mate."


It was a bad time to find a problem that proved difficult to diagnose, with the season getting into its full swing. "What is really eating me is that we left Monza and I had raved about the electronics aspect of the bike, that it was our strongest area, and knowing what we were capable of. Then I feel we got robbed of a championship challenge because we went from 30 points behind to 110, just like that. It ruined my season, that is the long and the short of it, and I am not best pleased. The engine has got to be the strongest area but as a whole the package is great, so to be restricted in that way, not to be able to use the engine power from the Aprilia, means I could not get out of the corner and overtake people. I was getting desperate trying to overtake and it was like a yo-yo effect. They would go away and I would pull them back and I then knew there was a problem because at this level you should be able to follow other riders wheel for wheel."


With this problem solved Laverty is now ready to shoot for his first Aprilia win, having taken two when riding for Yamaha in 2011. "I will still try for top three in the championship but that is not my concern right now. I just want to win as many races as possible. With the bike we have I reckon we can have a good shot at it. I want to win a lot of races."